Future Consequences
by CJM43
Summary: This story is now complete. Initially set in the year 2027, find out why Chris is still in fear of his life and whether Wyatt is still evil. Attempts to answer the many questions left unanswered about Chris' storyarc. After completing the first story,
1. Default Chapter

It was the year 2027. Piper was in the kitchen cooking dinner. Her face had a few more lines and her hair was a little shorter, but other than that she looked the same as she did when she was in her early thirties. She smiled as she heard the familiar sound of her husband orbing in. She turned to him and looked at him lovingly.

"You're early," she said surprised.

"I wanted to make sure I was here in plenty of time – are they here yet?" Leo asked looking around.

"No, they're not here yet," she said mockingly as she walked over to him and gave him a kiss and hug, "you seem nervous."

"I'm not nervous," he said putting his arms around her enjoying the moment, "it's just Chris seems very serious about this girl – he's never brought one of his girlfriends home before."

Piper smiled, "It's great that in spite of everything he's still trying to lead a normal life," she said.

"Taught by the best!" Leo joked.

"What?" she said, playfully smacking him, "we've done okay."

"You've been amazing," he said staring into her eyes.

She smiled back at him accepting the compliment, "Yeah?" but before Leo could reply their moment together was interrupted by something boiling over on the stove.

"Crap!" Piper yelled as she reached for the stove.

"I'll go and clean up – I'll be back soon" Leo said thinking it best to leave Piper in peace.

"Before you go," Piper called to him, "I saw Phoebe today."

"Have the visions changed?" Leo asked before Piper had a chance to continue. He then answered his own question; "of course they haven't otherwise you would have told me already." Piper turned the heat down under the big pot and stirred it.

"No, they haven't changed, but…" she turned to look at him, "she thinks they're getting stronger."

"Stronger?" Leo exclaimed, obviously alarmed.

"We've got to make sure we're ready Leo, make sure everything that can be done has been done … we'll only have one chance at this."

"I have done everything possible, all the Elders and I have, you, Phoebe and Paige have as well. We are as prepared as we ever will be." He paused as his mind wandered back in time.

"What is it?" Piper asked softly.

"He's already died in my arms once, Piper … I know it was more than 23 years ago, but to me it is as clear as if it happened yesterday. I will not let that happen again – I promise."

She looked at him and smiled "I know," she consoled, "the hard part is not knowing when it is going to happen. If only we knew exactly how old he was when he came to us from the future, we could work out his exact age when Gideon…." Piper trailed off, even after all these years she did not want to finish that sentence.

"We will be ready, Piper," Leo reassured her, placing a consoling hand on her arm.

"We're lucky we know at all. Phoebe's powers have grown so much stronger. I would never have thought Gideon's spell on the athame would have covered time travel." Piper said.

"Well, it was meant for Wyatt, and Gideon was so obsessed with stopping him that he made sure we couldn't just go back in time and prevent it from happening. As soon as he attacked Chris with that athame he was always destined to die at that age – it was powerful magic, but we've had a long time to come up with a counter spell." Just then they both heard the front door open and a familiar voice call out.

"Mum? Dad?"

"I'll be back in a minute" Leo said as he orbed out. Piper took off the apron she was wearing and quickly tossed it in the laundry. She completed a quick check of everything on the stove and then headed out to greet her second son.


	2. Chapter Two

"Are you sure you wouldn't like some more dessert, Jeni?" Piper asked.

"No thank you Mrs Halliwell, I am so full! That was a lovely dinner though, thank you very much for inviting me."

"It's our pleasure, we haven't had a family dinner in a while. Chris is always so busy working, it's hard to pin him down." Piper said as she looked at Chris.

"I'm not that bad mum," Chris said defiantly, but changed his tone after a look from his mum, "well, okay, lately I have been, but I've been really busy at Magic School with my students. So much to do, and so little time to do it!" As he watched the smile leave the faces of both his parents, he suddenly realised how what he had just said must have sounded. He quickly tried to cover up, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that the way it came out."

Piper put her hand up, "Don't be silly, I know what you mean, you've always been so motivated and focused – all your life – right from when you were just a small boy. If you put your mind to it you can do anything. And I'm very proud of how you've helped Paige at Magic School," she looked at Leo, and then added, "under the circumstances."

"Your mother's right Chris, we're both very proud of you and everything's going to work out, I promise."

"Thanks dad," said Chris, then he looked at his mum, "and you too mum, that means a lot. And you don't have to talk in riddles in front of Jeni, she knows."

"What do you mean?" asked Piper.

"She knows about the curse," Chris looked at Jeni as he laced her hand through his.

She returned his look and smiled. "It doesn't matter," Jeni said looking back at a surprised Leo and Piper, "we're just enjoying our time together now, we'll worry about tomorrow when it gets here."

"Isn't she amazing?" Chris gushed, as he looked lovingly into his girlfriend's eyes.

"I'm not amazing," Jeni said before Piper or Leo could say anything, "my parents were killed when I was very young, I was very lucky to find a home boarding at Magic School. Nobody knows what's going to happen tomorrow. That's just the way I am." Jeni shrugged as she gave a half-hearted smile.

"I didn't realise your parents were killed Jeni, I'm sorry," said Piper.

"That was along time ago Mrs Halliwell, I hardly remember them, but it taught me to appreciate what I've got, and Chris has been a great friend, I owe him a lot" she said looking back at Chris.

"We owe each other," Chris added.

Both Piper and Leo suddenly felt at ease looking at these two together. They seemed so well suited and it was nice to see their son so contented.

"We're happy for both of you," smiled Leo, "Chris how about we give mum a rest and you help me make the coffees."

"Sure dad," he replied as he got up from the table and followed his dad into the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen Chris turned to Leo and whispered "Isn't she great?"

Leo looked back at him and chuckled, "Yes, Chris, she's great, you're very lucky to have found each other."

"I'm glad you like her, 'cause," he paused for a second as he looked straight at Leo, "'cause – I think she's the one." He stopped and shook his head, voice increasing in certainty, "No – I know she's the one".

Leo is surprised by this news, but doesn't want to upset Chris by reacting negatively. "That's great Chris, but you haven't been going out that long, and you're still very young. Just give it a bit of time."

"Dad, you know how you felt the first time you saw Mum, you've told me before that you just knew. I knew the first time I saw Jeni. I was just too shy to ask her out for months – we've been friends for ages, but when I finally did get the courage to ask her she said that she'd been feeling the same way. I have never felt this way about anyone before. You ask me to give it time, but I don't know how much time I have."

"Chris…" Leo tried to interrupt, but Chris continued,

"I know you say that everything's going to be fine, but you don't really know. Aunt Phoebe can't see past me collapsing, she can't tell if the spell you and the other Elders have come up with will work. Nobody knows for sure. I have been living with this death sentence my entire life…"

"Sometimes I wish we hadn't told you," Leo said, eventually getting a word in, eyes downcast.

"Dad, don't you see, you gave me so much by telling me. I have done a lot more with my life, because I did not know whether I was going to live past 23. And I'm not going to stop now. I am going to ask her to marry me," a microscopic flicker of apprehension passed through his eyes, before his happiness and confidence returned.

Leo smiled at his son and he could feel tears welling in his eyes, "You do whatever you think is right Chris, your mother and I will support you, you know that," he paused.

"Thanks dad," Chris smiled appreciatively, and then as he saw Leo still staring at him, he asked, "what is it?"

"Are you too old to give your dad a hug?"

Chris laughed, "Maybe just a quick one."

He was used to them smothering him, what with their first son still turning out evil and him living with this death sentence, he had definitely gotten his fill of hugs over the years. Their lives hadn't been easy and a hug every now and then was the least he could do.

"But we'd better get the coffees before the girls get suspicious," He added.

They stood at the front door saying their goodbyes, Piper gave Chris a hug and kiss and said, "Take care of yourself, okay?"

"I will, Mum, thanks for dinner." Chris replied.

Piper then leaned over to Jeni and gave her a hug and kiss as well, "Lovely to meet you Jeni, we look forward to seeing you both again soon."

"Thank you Mrs Halliwell,"

"Piper, please call me Piper"

"Thank you, Piper," she said smiling.

"And Leo," Leo added.

"And thank you too Leo, I had a lovely evening."

Leo closed the door and the two of them walked into the sitting room and collapsed on the lounge together.

"She seems very nice," Piper finally said, breaking the silence.

"She does," Leo agreed, "and Chris told me he intends to ask her to marry him."

"What!" Piper yelled, as she sat abruptly upright, "When did he tell you that?"

"In the kitchen, when we were making coffee," Leo replied, calmly.

"And he was serious?" Piper asked, face still ashen with shock.

"Very serious."

"And what did you say?"

"I told him that if that is what he really wanted then you and I would both support him," Leo said confidently.

Piper thought about that for a second then smiled at him.

"They do make a cute couple, and as I said at the dinner table, once he's made his mind up about something there is no stopping him."

"That is something both Chris's had in common, their determination," Leo said.

Piper sat thinking for a few seconds, her mind wandering back in time; "I still think about the other Chris, you know, everything he went through, everything we put him through, everything he sacrificed just to save our future. All for nothing!"

"It wasn't all for nothing, Piper," Leo said gently to her and then continued, "we were sure at the time it was Gideon that caused Wyatt to turn evil. Nobody thought for one second it would turn out to be Excalibur. Chris wasn't even born when that all came about, how were we to know it was really meant for him until it was too late. And he did change a lot of things – all three of you were dead in his original future, and he said Wyatt ruled the world. Well he doesn't rule the world in this future."

"Yet …" Piper added. Leo started to say something but Piper continued, "It's still hard thinking back, that's why I try not to."

"I know," Leo said as he kissed her on the forehead, "he also changed my future, because I made sure I was around this time, things are definitely better, just not completely fixed." Piper snuggled into his neck and closed her eyes enjoying the moment of peace together. "I suppose you're right" she said as she remembered what Jeni had said and thought to herself, 'I'll worry about tomorrow, when it gets here.'


	3. Chapter Three

It was almost 2 months later when Leo heard a desperate cry for help from Chris, the same cry that had haunted him for more than twenty-three years. Piper was mixing some potions when she saw the look on Leo's face.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's Chris," he replied, breathless. The anguished expression on his face said it all and Piper immediately dropped what she was doing and ran to him, and together they orbed out. They arrived at Magic School to find Chris collapsed on the floor clutching his stomach, blood seeping onto his hands and fingers. Paige and Jeni were next to him and concerned students were standing all around.

"What happened?" Leo asked, as he moved over to Chris's side.

"He just collapsed," Jeni said, frantically, obviously feeling completely helpless.

Leo, remained as calm as he could and crouched down next to his son. "Chris can you hear me?" he asked, feeling a dreaded sense of familiarity to the events unfolding.

Chris, obviously in a lot of pain, struggled to whisper, "Yes" in between shallow breaths.

Leo moved his hands over Chris's stomach and tried to heal him. Memories came flooding back of that horrific day twenty-three and a half years ago when he was in the same situation, desperately trying to heal his son and then helplessly standing by and watching him die. He was determined that was not going to happen this time.

It quickly became obvious that Chris could not be healed. Again.

"Okay, we don't have much time. Paige can you get Phoebe and come straight to the attic. Piper, I'll orb you and Chris there now and then I'll get the Elders."

As he issued those orders Leo found himself finally living in reality what he had been dreading all these years.

"Can I come too, Leo…please?" Jeni pleaded.

Leo looked up at her with a mixture of sadness and respect, "Of course you can."

They all held hands as Leo orbed them to the attic.

"Hold on Chris, I'll be right back with the Elders and we'll have you fixed in no time." Leo said to Chris as he kissed a frantic, but silent Piper and then disappeared in a cloud of orbs. Piper watched Leo go, and then she leaned over her son, feeling helpless seeing him in so much pain.

"It will all be over soon and then you two can get on with your lives," she said not really knowing what else to say.

Chris looked up at her and managed a weak smile as Paige and Phoebe orbed in. Phoebe immediately walked over to Chris. She smiled at him and said, "hey, kiddo" before she touched him gently on the shoulder. She closed her eyes, as she was overwhelmed with a premonition, just as Leo arrived with the other Elders.

"Quickly," Leo said, "everyone make a circle, just as we have practiced."

"Wait!" said Phoebe.

"Phoebe, we don't have much time," Leo said desperately.

"I need to talk to you both. Now!" she said as she moved to the other side of the room. They followed.

"What is it Phoebe?" asked Piper, impatiently.

"I just had a premonition, it's not going to work," she said, getting straight to the point.

"What do you mean? Not at all?" exclaimed Leo, starting to panic now.

"Oh, God, no!" Piper whispered, putting her head in her hands.

"There's something missing Leo, that's why it's not going to work. I feel that the spell with the Elders is like…" she hesitated trying to think of the right words, and then continued, "the second piece of the puzzle. There's something we've got to do first".

"What?" Leo asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "I'm sorry."

"Well we've got to try. We can't just stand around and do nothing," Piper said looking at both Phoebe and Leo hoping for an answer.

"The spell you have will not work by itself. Call the Elders over here and see if they have any ideas, but don't waste time by trying the other spell first," Phoebe said, firmly. "Trust me," she added, looking at both of them.

They took Phoebe's advice and quickly called Paige and the other Elders over, away from Chris leaving him alone with Jeni.

Leo explained what Phoebe just told him. One of the Elders stepped forward.

"Maybe if Phoebe and I join forces and touch the boy our combined power will lead us to the answer," he suggested.

"Worth a try," said Phoebe as she walked back over to Chris.

The two of them closed their eyes and reached out and touched Chris's shoulder. Within seconds they both received a vision. Phoebe opened her eyes.

"Thank you," she said gratefully to the Elder, and then turned to Leo and Piper, "we need to bring the Chris who died from the past here. The one who was actually stabbed twenty-three and a half years ago. He needs to join with this Chris, then he will be complete and we will be able to reverse the magic and heal him."

"Okay – fine – how do we do that?" Piper asked, frustrated.

"We have to write a power of three spell – it's the only way." Phoebe replied. "The wording has to be perfect. We only have one chance at this." She added.

They both look at Paige.

"You've always been the best spell writer Paige, and you've worked at Magic School all these years, please do this for me." Piper pleaded.

Paige looked at Chris still writhing in pain, then back at her sisters and Leo. "Great, no pressure here!!" she mumbled to herself. "Of course I will," she said a little louder, as she walked over to a nearby table and grabbed a handy pad of paper and pen. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, but was in reality only about 3 minutes, Paige handed the spell to Piper. "What do you think?" she asked.

Piper looked it over quickly and then said, "It covers everything. I couldn't do any better," as she handed it urgently to Phoebe.

"Neither could I," Phoebe agreed.

With the decision made, the girls surrounded Chris and held hands to recite the following spell:

"We call upon the power of three

To help us rewrite history

We summon you now, hear our call

Chris Halliwell who died in 2004

Travel to us through time and space

To settle here in your rightful place."

Back in 2004, Leo was distraught as Chris took his last breath in his arms and then closed his eyes for the final time. Moments later his body disappeared. Leo didn't know it then but Chris was being summoned to the future to be saved.

No one could quite believe what they were seeing, as a vision of Chris appeared above them and slowly settled down into the Chris lying on the couch. Everyone seemed stunned for a second, as nobody actually believed that it had worked.

Leo suddenly realised, and then mumbled to himself, "that's where his body went." He didn't have time to dwell on that thought however; as he looked to Chris and noticed he had lapsed into unconsciousness. "Quickly, everyone form a circle and say the spell, just like we practiced."

They formed a circle and held hands, except for Leo and 2 other Elders who leant over Chris's still form hoping their combined powers would heal him as they all said the following:

"In this room together we have come

The Power of 3 and Elders as one

Using all our power after all these years

Reverse Gideon's magic from his greatest fears

Allow us now to remove the shield

So Chris Halliwell can be healed"

They all waited for something to happen. Suddenly a barrier became visible underneath Leo's hands. It appeared to be some kind of shield that was blocking him from healing Chris's wounds. "Quickly, say it again!" Leo shouted. A strong wind started blowing around them as they repeated the spell.

"In this room together we have come

The Power of 3 and Elders as one

Using all our power after all these years

Reverse Gideon's magic from his greatest fears

Allow us now to remove the shield

So Chris Halliwell can be healed"

The barrier blocking Chris's wounds moved up and swirled all around them, higher and higher until suddenly it disappeared. As quickly as it started the wind dropped, leaving the room completely silent. Leo and the other Elders still trying to heal Chris now saw that their healing powers were working and slowly his wounds disappeared. Chris suddenly opened his eyes and took a breath. He half sat up as Leo caught him.

"Chris, it's okay buddy, take it easy" he said lying him back down. A relieved Piper immediately dropped down next to him, as the other Elders got up and moved to one side.

"Chris, are you okay? Tell me you're okay?" Piper asked, desperate to know for sure that the spell had worked.

"Chris looked up at her – still trying to catch his breath. "I think so," he replied. "The pain's gone, but I've got a headache and I'm feeling a little woozy."

Piper looked to Leo as tears now fell freely down her cheeks. "You did it!" she exclaimed.

Leo smiled back at her. "We all did," he said looking gratefully around the room. Paige and Phoebe were either side of Jeni, holding her hand. They all had tears in their eyes as well. As confident as they all were that the spell would work, nobody could quite believe it actually did.

"Thank you," Piper said as she leaned over to kiss Leo. "Thank you to everyone," she said looking around the room. Then looking back down at Chris, "I can't believe it's finally over!"

Chris tried to sit up. "Are you sure you're feeling up to it," Leo asked him concerned. "I'm fine, Dad" Chris replied; now sitting upright. "I feel amazing! Thank you to everyone who helped. I cannot thank you enough. You've given me my life back. In fact" he said pausing for a moment, not really knowing how to put it into words, "you've given me two lives."

"What do you mean two lives?" Piper asked as she sat down on the couch next to her son.

"This is going to sound really weird, and I don't want you guys to freak out on me or anything, but the Chris that died in the past, he is now a part of me. I have all his memories now too." He paused to look at the reaction around the room. Everyone seemed to be trying to process what he had just said.

"So, you're telling us that the Chris that came from the future twenty-five years ago is now a part of you too," Leo said trying to understand.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Dad," Chris replied. "I remember everything. I remember Valhalla, Gith, Ginny the Jeanie, the Spider Demon, and Gideon. To me, I just died a few minutes ago."

"How is that possible?" Leo asked looking up at the other Elders.

They all looked at each other before one of them finally replied to Leo's question. "A lot of what happens when someone time travels is still unknown," he said before continuing. "It is our understanding that if the other Chris had returned from the future, and the future had been changed, he would have merged with his future self. He would have had two sets of memories, but the original ones would slowly fade and the newer set would take over."

"This time travel stuff still gives me a headache!" said Phoebe.

"Me 2" said Piper.

"Me 3" added Paige.

"The main thing is Chris is alive and well," said Piper, relieved. "And there will be no more time travel in this family, do you understand?" she said firmly to Chris. Chris laughed. "Fine with me!" he agreed. "I did make a difference, though, didn't I? You are all still alive," he said as he lovingly looked at Piper, Paige and Phoebe. "And Dad, you made sure you were around for me" he said smiling at Leo.

Leo smiled back at him not really knowing what to say.

"But Wyatt," Chris added, "Wyatt, is still evil."

"Things aren't as bad as your original future though…" Leo started to say, but was interrupted by Chris.

"Nowhere near as bad. But still, I don't know how I could have missed Excalibur the first time around. Looking back it was so obvious."

"Anyway," Piper cut in, "it's been a big day, and I think you need something to eat. How about we all head downstairs and I'll whip something up."

They all agreed, and after having said goodbye to the Elders, the whole family made their way downstairs to celebrate.

End of Chapter 3

This may seem like a happy ending, but stay tuned because there's a lot more to come.

Thank you for reading my story.


	4. Chapter Four

Water dripped from the ceiling onto a rather high pile of ashes in the dark cave in the underworld. Of course, Wyatt usually lived in an apartment in San Francisco, which had everything he could ever wish for, or conjure in his case, but when he visited the underworld, this was his preferred place of residence. He had chosen this cave because of its discreet location, and the fact that it was naturally shielded from both demons and witches. An important point when you tend to make enemies very easily.

Wyatt loved his family, and up until now had never hurt them. He was especially fond of his little brother, Chris, and that is why he had never tried to kill him, even though he knew it would guarantee him finally having complete power over Excalibur. The power he felt during the short time he was able to use Excalibur, before his Dad and the other Elders realised it was really meant for Chris and took it away from him, was like nothing he had ever experienced in his life. He had decided to be patient. He knew Chris was destined to die at the same age Future Chris had been stabbed by Gideon all those years ago. He was not quite two years old, but his memories of that day, and of the person he now knows was Chris, dying whilst trying to save him were still very vivid. Maybe that was why he couldn't bring himself to hurt Chris, although he couldn't bring himself to try to save him either, knowing that his death would lead to his ultimate destiny in claiming Excalibur and finally ruling the underworld and ultimately the world. He was the most powerful being ever created after all, and he couldn't understand why his family didn't see what was so obvious to him.

Wyatt removed the telekinetic grip he had on the young girl's throat, and she dropped to the ground gasping for breath.

"Tell me what I want to know now, Seer, or you will join that pile of ashes over there," Wyatt demanded.

The terrified girl looked up at him. "If I tell you what I have seen, you will still kill me. That is what I have seen."

"If you don't tell me, I will kill you anyway. Have you seen that as well?" Wyatt asked her in a mocking tone.

"Yes," she replied, realising her fate was sealed no matter what she said.

"Then tell me. How long before my brother dies and I become master of Excalibur?" Wyatt asked as he walked closer to her and reached out and grabbed her throat with his hands, lifting her up off the ground.

"Your brother has been saved," the seer managed to whisper in between gasps of breath.

Wyatt immediately released his grip, surprised by this news. "What do you mean he has been saved?"

The Seer, now able to talk more loudly continued, "he has been saved, tonight, by the Charmed Ones and the Elders. The magic that cursed him has been reversed, he is still the true ruler of Excalibur."

"How is that possible?" he asked himself as he turned his back on the Seer and walked towards the other side of the cave. "This was my destiny, I know this was my destiny. How could they do this to me?"

While Wyatt was preoccupied with the information she had just given him, the Seer took the opportunity to try to escape. Without even turning around, Wyatt put his hand out and stopped her by freezing her. A handy power he had inherited from his Mother later in his life, and one he had used mainly to amuse himself by half freezing and then torturing demons.

Casually he walked over to the Seer, frozen in mid stride in her futile attempt to escape. He looked at her, shaking his head, and then unfroze her. "Why did you run, you silly girl, surely you were able to see what I would do?"

Wyatt, in his arrogance, did not wait for her to answer, but started to walk away and with a quick flick of his wrist, which looked like an after thought, the frightened girl was engulfed by flames, her screams only lasting for mere seconds before her ashes fell nice and neatly next to the big pile already near the entrance to the cave.

The Seer already forgotten, Wyatt began to carefully plan his next move.

The Halliwell family had gathered in the kitchen. The mood was light and happy as the girls discussed the impending nuptials.

"So, I suppose it's full steam ahead for the wedding plans, now," Phoebe asked to no one in particular.

Jeni looked at Chris as she answered, "That's if Chris still wants to marry me."

Everyone stopped what they were doing, surprised by Jeni's response. All eyes were on Chris as he said, "Why would I not want to marry you?"

Jeni, embarrassed by the sudden attention, nevertheless continued, "well, I thought now that the other Chris is a part of you, maybe you needed some time to sort things out. I mean, the other Chris was also engaged, wasn't he? Maybe you still have feelings for her."

"Oh, I'd forgotten about her," said Piper.

"I can't even remember her name," said Paige.

"Didn't it start with a B?" Phoebe asked.

"Bianca. Her name was Bianca," Chris said giving his aunts a look which said 'but out', then he continued, "and, no, I don't still have feelings for her. To be honest, I barely remember her. It happened, what, about a year before I was born? It's going to take me a while to sort through all the memories, they're a little mixed up at the moment." He turned to look back at Jeni, "my feelings for you haven't changed, and I'm still the same person you fell in love with. I have more memories now, but I can assure you there has only ever been one of me. The Chris who died in the past and me are the same person, it's just like I've lived two lives. I don't even know what happened to Bianca, I've never even met her this time around."

"We do," said Phoebe suddenly.

"Phoebe!" Chastised Piper.

"What? I think he's old enough to know the truth. It's not like we did anything wrong. She was a demon after all." Phoebe said in her defence.

"Mum, what's Phoebe talking about?" Chris asked, now very curious.

Piper looked at Leo for support.

"We wanted to make sure you didn't make the same mistake again, as you did the first time around," Leo started to say.

"Okay, so what did you do?" Chris asked, wondering where this was leading.

"We tracked her down to check out what she was doing," Piper continued.

"And we weren't happy with what we found," Paige cut in.

"She was really evil, Chris, far worse than the first time we met her," Phoebe said trying to sound convincing.

"I suppose without your good influence she didn't have any hope," Piper said.

"Mum, just tell me what you did," Chris demanded, frustrated.

"She saw us, attacked us, and we," she took a breath, preparing herself, "we vanquished her," she finally said.

"How long ago?" Chris asked, surprised by this little revelation.

"Oh, maybe, about 5 years ago, I think." Piper said looking around at her sisters and Leo for confirmation. They all nodded.

"We were only trying to protect you Chris," Leo said trying to justify their actions.

"I know, Dad, but why didn't you tell me?" He asked.

"You didn't even know Bianca. We didn't see any reason to upset you." Piper said.

"I didn't know who she was, but I knew the other Chris was engaged, because you told me the stories of what happened when he was," Chris paused, then corrected himself, "when I was here the first time. It would have been nice to know that she had died."

Chris looked at his family, who all didn't really know what to say. He then looked at Jeni and noticed she seemed uncomfortable with this conversation.

"But, I do understand you had my best interests at heart," he said as he looked around at them all, "as you always have, so I think we'll just leave it at that. As I said before, I barely remember her anyway, and now I've found Jeni, it all doesn't matter anyway."

"So where did you two meet?" Phoebe asked, trying to change the subject.

"At Magic School," Jeni answered.

"Have you worked there long?" Phoebe asked, Jeni.

"I've lived there nearly all my life," she answered.

"Jeni's parents were killed when she was just a baby. Her father was considering becoming a teacher there, but had decided not to take the position when they were caught in the crossfire of some sort of supernatural battle. We found Jeni unharmed, and took her in. She was the first magical orphan at the school." Paige explained.

"Wow. I'm so sorry about your parents," Phoebe sympathised.

"I believe that things happen for a reason," Jeni said. "I would never have met Chris if my parents hadn't died, because my father had decided not to take the job at Magic School and we were going to move to London. My life would have been very different."

They were all thinking about what Jeni had just said when the oven bell went off. "Why don't you and Chris go and set the table, while we finish off in here," Piper suggested to Leo. "Dinner won't be long."

Leo agreed and he and Chris headed into the dining room as instructed.


	5. Chapter Five

Leo and Chris were now in the Dining Room alone. Leo watched his Son as he walked over and opened a drawer near the dining table.

He turned to Leo before pulling out the contents of the drawer, "just placemats tonight all right?" He asked.

Leo was only half listening to him, trying to figure out how to start his planned apology. "That's fine," he answered still staring at him.

Chris looked up at Leo, noticing for the first time that his Dad was staring, "what?" He asked.

"Nothing," Leo said immediately as he turned to open the cutlery drawer. Then changing his mind he turned back to Chris, "well, actually…" he started to say, and then paused.

"Dad, if you want to ask me something, just go ahead, I'm fine with anything you want to know," Chris said, trying to put his Dad at ease.

"You said upstairs you have all the memories of the other Chris, including the day he died." Leo said, making sure he had his facts straight.

"Yes, that's right Dad, except the other Chris is now a part of me too, so you don't have to refer to us as two different people. As I said before, I'm still trying to sort everything out. At the moment it just feels like I've woken up from a very vivid nightmare." Chris said, putting his hand up to his forehead and rubbing it.

"This is going to take a bit of getting used to for all of us. I can't imagine what you're going through at the moment," Leo said to Chris sympathetically.

"Honestly, I'm just happy to be alive!"

Chris saw Leo turn away slightly as he said that, as if he'd hit a nerve. "What is it, Dad, is something bothering you?"

Leo looked straight at him. "Ever since Gideon," he searched for the right words, "betrayed us and you were killed, that day has haunted me."

"That was a bad day, with the evil world and then happy world," Chris started to agree, but was interrupted.

"No Chris, I'm not talking about any of that," Leo said, but then corrected himself, "of course, that was all bad enough, but I'm talking about a promise I made to you. I promised I would save you and send you back to your own time. I left you on that bed to bleed to death, and you trusted my promise that I would save you. I'll never forget the look on your face as I orbed out. You were in incredible pain, yet you were still only concerned about your brother. I have relived that day, over and over again, maybe a thousand times since then, trying to think of what I could have done to save you. I never should have left you alone with Wyatt in the first place. I knew Gideon was after him, I knew you could not possibly defeat him, he was a powerful Elder."

Chris had let his father talk, because it was obviously something he needed to get out of his system, but decided to cut in, "Dad, that was a crazy day, there was no way you could have predicted what was going to happen, and I certainly don't blame you for anything. The whole reason I came back from the future was to save Wyatt. I was always willing to give up my life if it saved the future, because so much more was at stake than just my life."

"I know that now Chris. I don't think any of us really understood back then. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry I put you in that position and I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise to save you." Leo said earnestly.

"Dad, there's no need," Chris started to say, but was interrupted by Leo.

"Just say okay, Chris, please."

Chris looked at the pain on his dad's face, "okay." he said softly.

The relief was immediately evident as Leo sighed, "thank you. Now we'd better set this table before everyone wonders what we've been doing all this time."

The dinner conversation was pleasant enough. Phoebe had talked about her divorce from her fourth husband and how she couldn't believe her daughter was almost twenty years old and was now refusing to be called Ladybug, no less. The others agreed that Phoebe should have dropped that nickname when she was 3 years old, and that she had been lucky her daughter had humoured her for so long.

Phoebe had offered, once again, to set up Paige with a date, which she, once again, had politely refused. She was happy with her life the way it was and after losing her soul mate when she was in her twenties she had not been interested in meeting anyone since. Phoebe, still could not understand this, and promised to keep trying to match make, much to Paige's annoyance.

Piper happily listened to the conversation, pleased that everything seemed normal again.

Suddenly, Leo stood up, obviously sensing something. Unfortunately, he was too late as the whole table and everyone sitting around it, were surrounded by a crystal force field.

Before anyone could say anything, the answer to all their questions walked in from the Living Room.

"Having a family reunion without me?" Wyatt asked sarcastically.

Nobody had seen him for several months, and were surprised at how he looked, dressed in black trousers, black T-shirt, his blonde curly hair now down to his shoulders.

"Wyatt," Piper started to say, but was cut off by Leo.

"What do you want?" he asked coldly.

"Nice to see you too, Dad. Don't worry, I won't keep you long, I just came by to congratulate my little brother for surviving Gideon's curse. Well done, everyone, reversing his magic was quite an achievement. Unfortunately, it has resulted in a drastic change of plans on my part."

"Wyatt, please what ever you are planning, don't do it. Let's talk about it, like we used to. We love you and want to help you get over this obsession you have with Excalibur." Piper pleaded.

"That's your problem, Mum, everything is so black and white to you. Don't you understand it's all about power! I've known that ever since I saw Gideon stab Future Chris all those years ago, right in front of me. I wasn't even two years old, but I worked out back then that whoever has the most power wins. Excalibur will give me that power, and nobody will ever threaten me again."

Chris could not believe what he was hearing. This Wyatt was beginning to sound more and more like the Wyatt from his original future, and him witnessing his stabbing when he was a baby had contributed to him turning evil.

"Well, it's been fun and all, but I've got to run now," he said continuing with the sarcasm.

"Wyatt!" Leo shouted, frustrated, as he watched Wyatt orb out.

A couple of seconds later an alarm sounded on a bracelet on Paige's wrist. "He's at Magic School," she said, stating the obvious.

"You have an alarm to detect Wyatt going to Magic School?" Chris asked surprised.

"We had to Chris, we knew he would eventually come after Excalibur," Paige answered.

"Excalibur is safe, though, isn't it?" Chris half stated and half asked.

"Nothing is one-hundred-percent," Leo answered him.

Just then Paige reached for the key attached to a chain around her neck in a panic, realising it wasn't there.

"The key's gone, he must have orbed it to himself before he put us in this force field," she said frantically.

"What else does he need?" asked Piper just before Chris was going to ask the same question.

Before anyone could answer, they heard the Elders jingle Leo.

"Oh no!" Was all Leo could say.

"How did he get the spell from the Elders?" Piper asked

"I don't know, but he has, and now all he needs is the code and that won't take him long. We need to get to Magic School, fast!"

"How will we break the force field?" Jeni asked, speaking for the first time since they had been trapped.

"Why don't we try the old Power of Three spell?" Phoebe asked.

"We haven't used that one in years," Piper said, "but it is the most reliable."

The three of them carefully moved together, trying not to touch the force field in the process, and all held hands and began chanting:

"The Power of Three will set us free," over and over again until the force field exploded setting them all free.

"Jeni, you stay here," Chris said to her, "it's too dangerous!"

"No, Chris, I want to come," she pleaded with him.

"Please, I don't have time to argue, just do this for me," he pleaded back, firmly.

Reluctantly she agreed, and a few seconds later found herself alone in the house that only fifteen minutes earlier had been filled with a happy family enjoying a celebratory dinner.


	6. Chapter Six

When Excalibur had been taken away from Wyatt, it was decided the best way of keeping it safe was to hide it in plain sight. The decision was made to put it on display at Magic School with a three-step security system to protect it.

The first was a key that Paige kept at all times, which operated a magical force field. The second was a spell that caused anyone who touched Excalibur to turn to stone. The counter spell had been locked away "up there" by the Elders.

The third was a more conventional type of security with a fifteen-digit code, which gave access to magical unbreakable glass that had been especially conjured to surround the Magical Sword.

Wyatt had obviously been able to steal the key from Paige, and according to the Elders had also managed to procure the counter spell. The numerical code was the final obstacle, and that was what he was using all his powers of concentration and limited psychic powers to work out as his family orbed in trying to prevent him doing just that. Wyatt didn't even turn to look at them. He was so close to achieving his goal, and so confident that his family would not attack him, he kept his concentration where it was needed.

Suddenly Wyatt opened his eyes and smiled as the final number of the code came to him.

"You're too late!" he said to his family as they started to walk toward him.

He punched the final number into the keypad as Piper shouted "Wyatt! No!"

Wyatt completely ignored his mother's plea, as he watched the glass casing around Excalibur drop. He quickly recited the spell to prevent him turning to stone, and then took a deep breath, relishing the fact that he, and he alone, had overcome the three security measures to hold Excalibur.

Wyatt could feel the power start to overtake him as he reached out his hand to finally take command of Excalibur and, in his mind, fulfil his destiny.

His moment of glory was thwarted however, as Chris, seeing what was about to happen, called out for Excalibur. Hearing the cry of its true Master, Excalibur immediately flew across the room into Chris's hand.

Wyatt had now reached breaking point, and not showing any concern for the safety of his brother or the rest of his family, immediately threw fireballs in their direction.

They all frantically ducked for cover, except Chris who skilfully used Excalibur to deflect the fireballs.

"Since when was Wyatt able to throw fireballs?" Piper asked Leo, aghast, as they both cowered behind a sofa.

"Since when did Chris learn to use Excalibur?" Leo asked back, surprised.

"What are we going to do, Leo, I can't attack my own son?" Piper asked, hoping he would have some logical response. She looked over at Phoebe and Paige who were taking cover behind an upturned table, also seemingly not knowing whether to attack him or not.

"We've got to stop him somehow," Leo replied to Piper or he'll kill Chris. As Leo finished that sentence they all saw Chris go flying across the room as Wyatt used his telekinetic powers to fling him there. Unfortunately, Chris lost his grip on Excalibur in the process. The magical sword fell to the floor in front of Chris who was lying very still after falling heavily.

"I don't need you!" Wyatt shouted to Chris, now so obsessed, that nothing else mattered. "And I will make sure you never have Excalibur again!"

He formed a fireball in his hand and was about to throw when both Piper and Leo screamed, "No!" at him. Piper running to protect Chris, Leo directing a lightening bolt towards the now air born fireball.

The two energy forces collided above Excalibur sending a concentrated explosion down towards the Magical Sword.

Wyatt watched in horror as his precious Sword exploded into hundreds of small pieces of deadly shrapnel, which catapulted around the room at lightening speed. Leo quickly orbed out as several pieces headed in his direction, hitting the table behind him that was still protecting Paige and Phoebe.

Chris had no time to react, as he was still recovering from his heavy fall and had no idea what was happening.

Piper had been standing in front of her son ready to blow up the fireball heading in his direction, when Leo had beaten her to it. The next thing she knew, the force of the explosion threw her back, falling on Chris, protecting him in the process from the lethal metallic fallout. She, however, was not so lucky.

Leo orbed back in and immediately saw Piper lying on Chris with blood seeping from wounds in her chest and stomach.

"Piper!" he shouted as he ran to her.

Chris, now recovered, moved out from under her, still oblivious as to what had just happened. Then he saw her wounds, "Mum!" was all he was able to say before Leo was next to him, trying desperately to heal her. He looked up and saw Paige and Phoebe were watching anxiously also. "What the hell happened?" Chris asked looking at all the debris around him.   
"Excalibur was hit by a fireball, I think, and just exploded sending bits everywhere," Phoebe tried to explain to him.

"And Mum was hit," he said stating the obvious. "God, Dad, she looks bad, there's so much blood, you can heal her, can't you?"

"I'm trying, Chris" was all Leo would say.

Chris looked over at Wyatt, who was down on the floor trying to pick up the tiny pieces of Excalibur, devastated. He didn't even appear to have noticed his mother, seriously injured on the other side of the room. As Chris was watching him, Wyatt started to compose himself and then suddenly stood up and began reciting a spell, his hands outstretched. A few seconds later a book materialised in front of him and Chris recognised it immediately as a time travel book that had been kept hidden at Magic School. He didn't even know that Wyatt knew about the book, let alone a spell to summon it.

Suddenly he realised what Wyatt was going to do. Chris looked to Leo, who was still busy trying to heal the multiple wounds suffered by Piper. "Dad, I think Wyatt is going to try to go back in time," he said to him frantically as he looked from his Dad, to his Mum and then to his brother.

Leo, unfortunately, was using all his energy to keep up the healing process on Piper, and didn't even hear what Chris had said.

Chris looked back at Wyatt, who had found what he was looking for in the book and was reciting the spell. Suddenly a triquetra still drawn on the far wall, started to glow.

"Dad, look! Wyatt is going to go back in time to get Excalibur – we've got to stop him!" Chris said as he started to get up.

Everyone's attention was diverted to the glowing triquetra and Wyatt running toward it.

Before anyone else had time to even register what was happening, Chris was on his feet, running after him, tackling him to the floor just before Wyatt made it to the glowing time portal. Their relief at seeing Chris stop Wyatt before he was able to enter was short lived however, because a few seconds later, they watched helplessly as the two of them still fighting each other rolled through the portal just before it closed.

The last thing Chris heard was his father screaming his name before he was engulfed by the familiar eerie silence of time travel.


	7. Chapter Seven

It was a cold winter's night, early in the year 2005, when Piper checked on her boys before going to bed. The day had been an unusually quiet one for the Halliwell household, no innocents to save, no demons to fight, which was quite a relief to everyone considering the events of the last few months. Although it was a boring day on the Halliwell scale of life, it would have been just a normal day to anyone else. More days like this one was what Piper desired most in life, but she did accept that was not her destiny and so put all her efforts into making their crazy, magical and very stressful life as normal as possible. She had to do it for the sake of her family, and for her own sanity.

As she looked at her boys' angelic and peaceful faces as they slept, she wondered about their future. Even though they had saved Wyatt from Gideon, and consequently from being the ruler of all evil, she still felt a niggling tinge of doubt as to whether he had been truly saved. A doubt that she had pushed deep down inside her, and refused to let surface, because that would involve facing up to it and she just had too many other things to worry about at the moment.

She walked over to Chris who had kicked his covers off. As she carefully covered him, trying not to disturb him, her mind wandered back to the grown up version of her second son who had lived with them for nearly two years after coming from the future to save Wyatt. This was another memory she had pushed deep down inside her, not allowing the actual reality of what happened to him surface. She remembered the day vividly when, after Baby Chris was born, Leo had gently broken the devastating news of what had happened to Big Chris when trying to protect Wyatt from Gideon. She could not bear to think of him suffering the way he did, so simply convinced herself that Chris had been reborn and was going to now live a much happier life. She had suffered so much tragedy in her life, and did not want to deal with more. Baby Chris was alive and well, Wyatt had been saved, it was all very simple really, and the more she said it the more she convinced herself, and that was all that mattered.

Finally, satisfied that all was well with her beloved boys, she headed toward her bedroom where she knew Leo would be waiting for her. It felt so right that they were now officially back together, and even though some of his decisions had been questionable of late, she knew he would always be there for her and the boys, and that knowledge was very comforting.

The triquetra on the Manor attic wall suddenly came to life with a blue light shining across the room. The two Halliwell brothers were tossed violently from the time portal rolling several times on the floor before finally coming to rest. Both of them were groaning as they tried to orient themselves.

Chris held his head in a vain attempt to stop the room from spinning. "What the hell was that?" he asked Wyatt.

"That was a time portal, I would have thought you would be familiar with them by now," Wyatt answered sarcastically as he too was trying to calm his dizziness.

"That was like nothing I've ever experienced before, Wyatt. It was like we were in the spin cycle of a washing machine!"

"The spell I used was for one person only, having you along for the ride must have screwed it up somehow."

"Great, just great! I have got to stop trying to save you Wyatt, it gets me nothing but trouble." Chris said to him, not quite believing he had travelled back in time, again.

"I don't need saving, Chris, I never have. I wish you would understand what I am trying to do. With Excalibur I could be the most powerful being on the planet. Demons and people alike would be afraid of me. The world would be a much better place. Join me and together we would be unstoppable!" Wyatt said, hoping Chris would finally understand.

Chris, however, remained unconvinced. "Wyatt, you cannot rule with fear, it doesn't work. I've lived through a life like that once already. Please, forget Excalibur and use the return spell for us to go home. Time travel is dangerous, and we don't even know what time we have come to anyway."

Wyatt had heard enough, his patience now wearing thin. "It's too bad you couldn't see things my way, little Brother, we would have made an awesome team. I have never wanted to hurt you, because I always felt guilty that you died saving me when I was younger, but I'm afraid you have just become an unnecessary annoyance now."

Wyatt now fully recovered, his few minutes of quiet conversation over, stood up and with a determined arm movement he telekinetically threw Chris across the room.

Piper and Leo suddenly sat up in bed at the same time, awoken from their slumber by the noise from the attic.

"What the hell was that?" Piper asked as she jumped out of bed and ran to the hallway grabbing her dressing gown on the way.

Leo was right behind her, also grabbing his gown, "Sounded like it came from the attic," he answered.

They both met Paige and Phoebe in the hall. "You heard it too," Paige said uneasily.

"Couldn't we just have one night off? Is that too much to ask?" Phoebe said.

"You two stay with Wyatt and Chris, Leo and I will go to the attic and find out who or what is wrecking my first normal day in ages," Piper said to them as she started walking toward the attic stairs.

"I don't think whatever is up there has any idea what they've gotten themselves into," Leo said to Phoebe and Paige before he walked away quickly so as to catch up to Piper.

Without hesitation they walked into the attic, ready to confront anything that was waiting for them. What they saw though surprised both of them. Before turning on the light they could make out, what looked like, two men fighting. They were both flinging each other across the room telekinetically.

"Hey, you two, stop fighting in my house now or it will be the last thing you do!" Piper shouted across the room as Leo located the light switch and turned it on.

The two men, startled by the interruption turned from their respective positions on the floor to face the familiar voice shouting at them. At the same time Leo turned on the lights.

"Oh my God, Chris!" Piper exclaimed immediately recognizing her grown up second son as he looked back at her.

"Mum!" Chris exclaimed back.

"How are you…how did you…what's going on?" Then before Chris could answer she turned to Leo, "this has to be some kind of trick."

"I don't know," was all a flabbergasted Leo could reply. He was staring not so much at Chris but the other person with him. The man he recognised immediately as grown up Wyatt from his fear induced vision at the hospital the day Chris was born.

"It's not a trick, Mum, it's really me and this is…"

"Wyatt," Leo finished for him.

"Wyatt? How can that be? Could someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Piper yelled, frustrated. "Now, would be good! Leo? How do you know that is Wyatt?" Then she turned to the two intruders once more, "And why are you two fighting each other?"

Wyatt took the opportunity to jump in, "it is really me, Mum, I followed Chris back from the future. He has come back to steal Excalibur. Everyone knows it is really meant for me, but in the future Chris tried to steal it and it was destroyed, so he has come back in time to try to steal it again."

"Wyatt!" Chris exclaimed, not believing what he was hearing. "Mum, Dad, do not believe him. None of what he said was true. I followed him back."

"Give me Excalibur, now and I will prove it to you!" Wyatt demanded.

"No – don't," Chris, pleaded.

"Nobody is getting anything until we sort everything out, and find out who is telling the truth." Leo firmly stated.

"What year is this?" Wyatt suddenly asked.

"2005, why?" Leo responded.

" Not the year I was aiming for, but it'll do. 2005, then Excalibur is still in the attic," he said starting to look around.

"Dad, you have to stop him, you can't let him get Excalibur!" Chris pleaded again.

Wyatt angrily turned to Chris, "I have had enough of your interference," he said as he telekinetically lifted Chris off the ground with such force he hit his head hard on the ceiling before dropping heavily to the floor.

While Chris distracted Piper and Leo, Wyatt closed his eyes and concentrated. A second later a small baby appeared in his arms.

Before they could get to Chris, Piper and Leo's attention was diverted back to Wyatt as he shouted at them, "I demand you give me Excalibur now, or I will crush his throat."

They looked in horror as they saw their precious baby in Wyatt's arms, his hand firmly placed around the crying baby's throat.

"Wyatt, no, please, I beg you, don't hurt him," Piper pleaded desperately.

Just then, Paige and Phoebe came running up the stairs behind them calling to Piper that Baby Chris had disappeared. They did not need her to respond, though, as all became clear when they entered the room.

"Oh, my God!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"Who is that?" Paige asked.

"Wyatt, we'll do anything, just don't hurt him!" Leo begged.

"Wyatt?" Both Phoebe and Paige exclaimed together.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Chris asked as he carefully got up from the floor. He was limping and his hand was holding the back of his head, blood seeping from a wound.

Everyone turned to Chris, surprised to see him up and walking toward Wyatt.

"Oh, God, Chris," Piper said noticing his injuries.

He ignored her, keeping all his concentration on Wyatt, knowing it could be all over for him in seconds if Wyatt was to go ahead with his threat to kill his Baby self.

"It could be the answer to all my problems," Wyatt answered confidently.

Chris continued calmly, "I know you saved my life many times when we were children, Wyatt, but I also saved yours. Can you be sure you would have survived to this age if I hadn't been around? Killing me as a baby would solve one problem, but are you completely confident you would still be alive?" He paused while Wyatt processed what he had just said. "You could be killing us both." He added, making sure to clearly spell out the possible consequences of Wyatt's current threat.

After a few seconds of careful consideration, Wyatt placed Baby Chris on the floor, and then looked around at everyone, "This is not over!" He said firmly, before orbing out.

They all breathed a collective sigh of relief, as Piper ran to her baby who had been left crying on the floor. Big Chris, who had been concentrating on getting through to Wyatt, could not hold onto consciousness any longer, so let darkness overcome him as he collapsed to the floor.


	8. Chapter Eight

Chris ran in slow motion across the room. The more he ran, the further away Baby Wyatt moved from him. He had to reach him before Gideon did; he promised Leo he would protect him. As he was desperately trying to reach the helpless baby version of his older brother, he watched him change from a baby into Big Wyatt, and turn to Chris and begin laughing at him. Chris didn't understand why his big brother would be laughing at him when he was trying to save him. Suddenly someone materialized in front of him, and before he was able to register who it was he was overwhelmed by a sharp pain in his stomach which took his breath away. The pain was so intense that his legs gave way from under him and he fell to the floor. All he could think about was calling for his Dad to help him, not the Dad he had grown up with, but the one he'd come to know during his time in the past. This Leo seemed to care. This one he could rely on, this one he knew would heal him and save Wyatt. He tried to call out for his Dad, but his voice wouldn't work, nothing was coming out at all. He started to panic, but then realized that, strangely, his stomach wasn't hurting anymore, it was tingling. Wyatt had stopped laughing at him and was now talking. He couldn't make out what he was saying at first, but then it registered that he was saying "sore", but not in an adult voice, in a baby voice…

Chris jumped as he opened his eyes. Baby Wyatt was in front of him touching his stomach, but his jolt must have scared Wyatt, because he let out a startled cry and ran away. Chris, catching his breath from what he'd just experienced, looked around and realized he was lying on the couch in the living room of the Manor and everything he just thought was real was only a dream. Or was it? He stopped to think for a second, trying to clear his head and work out what was real and what was not. In his dream, he had relived memories he had only just received the day before, and he was sure that would not be the last time he would relive that horrific day. He tried to think back to the day before, which seemed so long ago. Did he really travel back in time again with Wyatt, or was that a dream? No, that was real, and he remembered Wyatt threatening his baby self, and then orbing out. And he had been injured. That was the last thing he remembered. His head was bleeding, his whole body was hurting, and somehow he managed to talk Wyatt out of killing him as a baby. He wondered how he had managed to do that, and try as he might, he could not remember a word he had said to Wyatt. All the events of the previous night were a bit of a blur; in fact he was struggling to remember anything after being injured and talking to Wyatt. He didn't even remember falling asleep, or being healed.

A female voice interrupted his train of thought.

"Chris, you're awake, I'm sorry if Wyatt woke you."

It was, of course, the familiar voice of his Mother.

"You see Wyatt, Chris is fine," Piper said reassuring him.

"I think he was just trying to heal my stomach," Chris told her.

"Oh, really?" Piper said, concerned. "I suppose that's understandable considering his last memory of you." Then she turned to Wyatt, "Chris is all better now, Wyatt." As she walked over to a nearby playpen she asked Chris, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I think, I was just trying to work out where I was.

Yesterday was a very long day!" He said to her.

"You can tell me all about it when your Dad gets here," Piper said as she walked back to Chris after placing Wyatt in the playpen. "You were pretty badly injured last night. Leo healed you, but you were so exhausted, you went straight to sleep again after you regained consciousness. You've been asleep for nearly twelve hours; I was beginning to get worried."

"Twelve hours? Wow, I can't remember the last time I slept twelve hours," Chris said, surprised.

"Well, you must have needed it. I'll call Leo and you can tell us what is going on." Piper said as she looked to the ceiling and then shouted, "Leo!"

A heartbeat later Leo orbed into the room.

He smiled at Chris, "you're awake," he said.

"Finally," Chris replied.

Piper sat down on one of the chairs in the living room and said, "okay, Baby Chris is asleep, Wyatt is in his playpen, now tell us what is going on, but first, I have to know, are you the same Chris who was living with us for the last couple of years?"

"Piper," Leo said as he sat down on another chair, "just let him tell us in his own time."

"What! You can't tell me you didn't want to ask him the same question?" She said in her defense.

"It's okay, Dad, I don't mind, really. It must be really hard on all of you, considering what happened the last time I was here." Chris said.

"So, you are the same Chris," Piper concluded, smiling.

"There's only one of me, and yes I have all the memories of the

Chris that was your Whitelighter, but I am also Baby Chris grown up, with his memories too. Did I mention to you that it's very complicated?"

"Just start at the beginning," Leo said to him.

"What about Paige and Phoebe?" he asked.

"Paige is at Magic School and Phoebe is at the paper. We'll fill them in later." Piper replied.

"Okay, then. Where do I start?" Chris asked himself as he took in a deep breath.

It took Chris about forty-five minutes to tell his parents the whole story. He explained Excalibur and how it had corrupted Wyatt, because it was really meant for him. He then told them how he had been destined to die because of Gideon, but had been saved and now had both sets of memories. And lastly, he told them how Excalibur had been destroyed in the future and that Wyatt, so obsessed with possessing it, had traveled back in time to try to steal it. And how he, in his wisdom, had tried to stop Wyatt, but had ended up accidentally going through the portal with him, ending up in their attic the previous night.

Mostly Piper and Leo sat quietly listening intently to all Chris had to say, but occasionally they would interrupt with a question.

"So, Wyatt is still evil in the future. We didn't save him." Leo more stated than asked.

"I think with my original future, it must have been the combination of both Gideon and Excalibur, because he definitely wasn't as bad the second time around. Maybe because you were still alive this time, Mum, you were able to convince Dad to take Excalibur away from Wyatt when he was still young. It was enough to stop him being the evil ruler of the world, but unfortunately he had still been corrupted by the power of Excalibur. Much like you were Mum, but you only had it for a few days, Wyatt had for years." Chris told them.

"Well, he won't be getting it this time around, I can promise you that," Leo pledged.

"First, we've got to stop his adult version from getting it,"

Piper added.

"And," Chris continued, "Stop Big Wyatt from getting Baby Wyatt to use it again. The more he uses it at a younger age, the more connected with it and powerful he will become."

"I cannot believe that monster threatening to kill Baby Chris last night was our Wyatt grown up." Piper said looking over at Wyatt still playing in the playpen. "If we had been able to see him the last time you were here, we would have had a better idea of the dismal future you had come from, Chris," she said looking back at Chris.

"I know, but in a way I was trying to protect you. Just finding out that he was evil gave you both enough pain, without me going into all the gory details. That's why I never told you what he did when he dragged me back to the future with Bianca. He would have killed me if it wasn't for her. Bianca saved my life, sacrificing hers in the process." Chris said sadly.

"I saw him in a Barbas induced vision," Leo said to both of them.

"I didn't know that," Piper said, surprised.

"At the hospital, while you were in labour for Chris, and just before Chris called me after Gideon attacked him," Leo explained. "I wasn't sure how real it was, until I saw him last night."

"This is all so confusing, having the older and younger versions of our sons with us at the same time," Piper said turning to Leo, and then looking back at Chris, "But I'm going to take this opportunity and say how sorry I am at how we treated you last time. I've had a lot of time to think over the past few months and that is one of the things that has haunted me. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to be able to say that. It really is wonderful to see you again."

"I was no angel either," Chris said looking at Piper and then to Leo, who smiled at the reference.

"Before we get onto saving Wyatt, again," Piper said, "Let's talk about you. In spite of everything, you do look happier." She observed.

"I noticed that too," Leo agreed, and then he continued almost too afraid to ask, "Did I change in the future?"

"My life, this time around, was totally different. Yes, Dad, you were there for me, in fact you were great, and so were you Mum." Chris said, honestly.

Leo smiled, relieved, but Piper still had another question she wanted to ask, and she didn't hesitate, "So, did I still die young?"

"What do you mean?" Leo asked, surprised at this piece of news.

"That's right, I never told you," she said to Leo, "during the six months you were away, Chris let it slip that in his future I had died young. He apparently told my Dad, because they were super close in his future, I think the word you used was awesome?" she said looking at Chris.

Chris smiled at the memory, "yes, that's right," he agreed.

"Anyway," Piper continued, "I found out that I apparently died young, but he wouldn't elaborate, so?" she asked turning to Chris.

"No, Mum you didn't die when I was 14 like in my original future, you were alive when I left this time," he said truthfully, deliberately choosing not to reveal how she had been injured when Excalibur had been destroyed. He was sure his Dad would have healed her anyway, he convinced himself.

"You were fourteen?" She asked, shocked.

"It doesn't matter, it didn't happen this time." He said, not wanting to go into it any further.

"You're right," she said "And once we've got this Excalibur thing sorted out, and you get back to a better future, there will be no more time traveling in this family, do you understand?"

Chris laughed at the memory of his Mother in the future saying the exact same thing to him yesterday. He didn't want to get into that, however, so just answered, "Fine with me! I have someone waiting for me in the future, and I would like to get on with my own life."

"Not Bianca?" Piper hoped.

"No, not Bianca, but someone very special and we're getting married, but that's all I'm going to tell you." Chris replied.

Before Piper or Leo could question him further, suddenly the room was filled with the sound of a baby crying. Piper picked up the baby monitor, "baby Chris must be hungry," and then she realized, "and you must be hungry too, Chris. I am so sorry, we were so involved in finding out why you were here, I completely forgot to offer you some food. You must be starving."

"I hadn't realized either, but now that you mention it, I am pretty hungry." Chris replied honestly.

"Leo, I'll take care of the baby, you take care of the adult," she instructed as she got up to leave the room.

After she left, Leo and Chris also got up to head to the kitchen. As they were walking together, Leo stopped and turned to Chris, seemingly wanting to ask him something, but not really knowing how to begin.

"What is it Dad?" Chris asked.

"I was wondering about your memories of the day that Gideon attacked you?" Leo asked him hesitantly.

"I remember everything, Dad," Chris said, knowing exactly where this conversation was heading. "And, no, I don't blame you, even though you promised to save me and send me back to the future."

"How did you know I was going to say that?" Leo asked, surprised.

"Because, I just had the exact same conversation with you in the future, yesterday, or at least I think it was yesterday." Chris said, trying to figure out how it could be yesterday if it was in the future.

"God, this is so confusing! Anyway, that doesn't matter; the main thing is that you know we're good."

"You sure?" Leo double-checked.

"Absolutely!" Chris reassured him. "Now I'd really like one of your famous chicken, lettuce and mayo sandwiches."

"I have a famous sandwich?" Leo asked him surprised.

"Yep! Mum finally let you in the kitchen." Chris told him.

"Well, I'd better get to making it then." Leo said as the two of them walked into the kitchen.


	9. Chapter Nine

The previous occupants of Wyatt's underworld cave screamed as they disappeared in a ball of flames, ashes falling into a neat pile near the entrance.

"Now this place feels more like home," Wyatt said to himself as he looked around.

Wyatt's first instinct had been to take refuge in the familiar surroundings of this cave and he was relieved to have been able to locate it so easily. Here he could clear his mind and think about his next move. When he thought back to the events following his arrival, he cursed himself, and he cursed Chris. He was angry at himself for threatening the baby version of his younger brother, before he had thought through all the possible consequences. Chris had been right, Wyatt wouldn't be alive today without him so killing him as a baby would have only resulted in both of them ceasing to exist.

Even though he knew he was more powerful than Chris, he also knew that on occasion, he was more impulsive. Chris had always been the voice of reason as they were growing up, which had both saved Wyatt, and annoyed him. Chris seemed to revel in playing the role of Wyatt's conscience, always telling him right from wrong when it was obvious Wyatt was so past that. The power of Excalibur was all that mattered to him now, and that was what he had to focus all his energy on. Unfortunately his family would now be prepared for him, so he had to plan his next move very carefully. He was sure that Chris would foolishly start training with Excalibur soon, but that would only alert him as he still felt its power. Now he needed to rest, and then he would gain some demonic support for his attack. Timing was everything. This time he would think everything through very carefully.

"I know it's around here somewhere," Piper said as she looked behind some boxes in the attic. "Maybe we should be asking Paige, as she was the one who orbed it up here."

Leo and Chris were also rummaging around searching for Excalibur.

"I can't believe you don't know where it is!" Chris said, exasperated.

"There's been a lot going on lately," Leo explained, trying to justify.

"Besides," Piper added, "We didn't think Wyatt would be using it for a long time. Sharp objects and children do not mix well."

After saying that, she had a thought and then voiced it.

"Maybe Paige orbed it up high so Wyatt couldn't reach it," she said moving a box to stand on.

"Mum, that doesn't make any sense, Wyatt can orb," Chris said sounding increasingly frustrated.

"Maybe it doesn't make sense, Chris" she agreed, "But," she said pointing to an object covered by a blanket right at the back on top of the cupboard, "There it is."

She then turned to Leo, "Leo, could you please," Piper started to ask, but Chris interrupted.

"I'll get it down," he said as he motioned toward it and the object disappeared in a cloud of orbs, reappearing a second later in front of him.

Chris immediately removed the blanket, and unfortunately, a huge cloud of dust came with it. He coughed, and then using both hands tried to fan the dust away.

"You weren't kidding when you said you hadn't touched it, or dusted it, since it was orbed up here!" He choked out.

"You try raising two kids, running a nightclub and fighting evil everyday!" Piper snapped at Chris. "Dusting a freakin' sword in a rock on top of a cupboard in the attic is not on top of my list of priorities." She added losing her patience.

"Stone, Piper," Leo corrected her.

Piper turned to look at Leo, not believing what he had just said.

"Rock? Stone? Whatever!" She yelled back at him. Leo, wisely, remained silent.

"Anyway," she continued. "We've found it. Now what are we going to do with it?"

"Maybe Chris should start training," Leo suggested.

"As soon as I pull the sword free from the stone, Wyatt will sense it," Chris warned.

"He'll be coming after it anyway, it would be better if you were prepared," Leo advised.

"Okay, good point, but who would train me?" Chris asked. Leo looked to Piper.

"Me?" She exclaimed. "No way! I'm not going anywhere near that thing, you know what happened last time."

"Piper, you're the only one who has had any experience using Excalibur. You don't have to touch it, just teach Chris everything you were taught," Leo reasoned with her, then he turned to Chris, "She was a natural, you know."

Before Chris could answer, Piper cut in, "You think so?"

"Definitely," Leo answered confidently, and then added, "I was very impressed with the way you handled it, oh, except for the part where you wanted to kill us all and take over the world."

"I would have loved to have been here, it was a shame you had me out looking for more demons after Wyatt," Chris said.

"She probably would have just tried to kill you too," Leo said to Chris while looking at Piper out of the corner of his eye waiting for a reaction. Piper wasn't taking the bait; however, she just looked at him and half smiled.

"Okay, enough reminiscing. I suppose if there's no one else who can train you then we don't have much choice." Piper conceded. "It's getting late, so we'll start tomorrow."

"Fine," Chris agreed.

"Great, now everything has been worked out, I'll get the boys from Magic School and get them ready for dinner." Leo said.

"Great and I'll get dinner started. Phoebe and Paige have a lot of catching up to do." Piper said as she starting walking toward the door.

"Wait," Chris called out to her. "I don't suppose you kept any of my clothes; I would really like to have a shower and get changed."

Piper turned to him, "Sure, they are still in the box we packed at P3 before we thought we were sending you home."

"Thanks, I'll be back soon," Chris said before he orbed out.

"But," Piper started to say, but it was too late, Chris had already gone.

Chris materialized a few seconds later in his mother's office at the back of her nightclub, P3. He paused for a minute looking around at what had been his home for nearly two years. Everything he was going through just seemed so surreal to him at the moment. Unfortunately, he did not have the luxury of analyzing his feelings; he just had to get on with the job at hand. He looked around the room and spied the box still in the same corner where he and his mother had placed it after packing. Chris smiled as he remembered that day with his mum helping him pack up all the clothes he had accumulated during his unexpectedly long stay. She had stood next to him, very pregnant and teary eyed, folding up his clothes and placing them neatly in the box, promising to give it away to some charity after his departure. Obviously she either hadn't gotten around to doing it yet, or she couldn't bring herself to, considering how he ended up leaving. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted as the door to the office was flung open. Chris jumped at the unexpected intrusion which resulted in Paige, who was the person walking through the door, jumping also in a startled response.

"Oh! Chris!" She exclaimed. "My god, you scared me. I didn't know you were going to be here," she said to him.

"Sorry," he apologized, trying to regain his composure, "I just came for some of my old clothes. I won't be long."

"No, that's fine. I'm just doing some Magic School stuff. Actually, it's good that you're here, I need to go back to Magic School for a few minutes to pick up some paperwork, but I'm expecting some people to arrive any minute. Could you look out for them for me?" She asked.

"No problem," Chris said.

"Great, I'll be back soon, thanks." Paige said and then orbed out.

Chris turned his attention back to the box and started going through the clothes. He'd pulled out a few things when he heard someone call out. He walked over to the door and could see a young couple walking down the stairs to the club.

"Hi, can I help you?" Chris asked, making sure they were the people Paige was waiting for.

"Yes, we're looking for Paige Matthews. I hope we have the right address, we're supposed to be meeting her at five o'clock," said the man.

"Yes, you're in the right place," Chris said as he noticed for the first time the woman was holding a baby seat. "She's just popped out for a moment, she won't be long."

The woman started to thank him, but Chris was not paying attention as two demons had just materialized behind the young couple.

"Look out!" He shouted as he pushed both of them to the floor, the baby seat, with a small baby inside, being flung across the room in the process. Two fireballs just missed the fleeing group, hitting the wall behind them.

Chris recovered quickly and used his telekinetic powers to fling one of the demons across the room, hitting a wall heavily and falling unconscious to the floor. The second demon was about to attack again when Paige appeared and immediately seeing the danger she orbed a knife that had been left on the bar into him, vanquishing him instantly. The first demon had now regained consciousness, but chose to shimmer out before either Chris or Paige could dispose of him.

"What happened?" Paige asked as she helped them up.

"My baby," was all the concerned woman could say as she ran to the baby seat still upright on the floor.

Her husband immediately joined her, "Is she okay?" he frantically asked.

The baby, still securely strapped into her seat, was not even crying.

"Oh, thank god, she seems fine," the incredibly relieved woman uttered.

"He saved our life, that's what happened," the man said, finally answering Paige's question. "Thank you, so much," he added.

"I was happy to help, and I'm glad your baby's okay," Chris said.

"Do you know who or why you were attacked?" Paige asked.

"That's part of what we came here to say," the man started to explain. "It appears we are being pursued by a demonic clan, and I don't know why. The answers apparently lie in London with some historical family documents, so I am moving my family there to live, in hope of finally resolving everything. I'm sorry if we wasted your time, but I won't be able to take the job you offered me at Magic School."

"Wait," Chris interrupted, "you were going to work at Magic School?"

"Possibly," the man answered.

"That's what I thought today's interview was all about," Paige added. "I'm sorry that circumstances are preventing you from joining our school, I'm sure you…"

Before Paige could finish, Chris interrupted again, this time more urgently and sounding like he was starting to panic. "No, you don't understand, I need to know a few things. You were going to have an interview about being a teacher at Magic School," he said looking at the man.

"Yes, that's right," the man agreed.

"Chris, what's going on?" Paige asked.

"And you were attacked by demons, and your daughter was pushed clear and her name is Jeni, isn't it?" He asked, almost dreading the answer.

"Yes, it is, but how did you know that?" Asked the woman.

Chris put his hands up to his forehead and cursed, "I don't believe this, I don't believe this," he said incredulously. "This can't be happening!"

"Chris, what is going on?" Paige asked frustrated at his lack of response.

Chris ignored Paige, instead turning all his attention to the parents of his future fiancé.

"Please, you have to listen to me, this is very important; you have to take that job in Magic School. My future and her future," he said pointing to the baby the woman was now holding, "depend on it."

The man looked at him and then looked at Paige, "What is he talking about?" he asked perplexed.

"I have no idea," Paige answered.

Chris looked at the three of them staring at him in stunned disbelief and tried desperately to think of a way of explaining that by him saving their lives he had just prevented his baby self from ever growing up and meeting Jeni, the love of his life.

Finally the man said, "We are very grateful that you saved our lives, but unfortunately, as I have explained we cannot possible stay here any longer, our very lives are at stake as you have just witnessed."

"But," Chris started to say.

"I'm sorry," the man repeated and then turned to Paige, "I would be forever grateful if you could orb us directly back to our apartment where we have arranged magical transportation to London this evening."

"Absolutely, it's the least I can do," Paige replied.

"Please," Chris pleaded, "Consider my request, or at least consider coming back in the future when everything is sorted out." As he spoke he looked down at the baby happy and content in her seat and thought of his fiancé in the future.

"Thank you, once again" the woman said to Chris

The man did not acknowledge Chris' request, but just nodded toward him as they all disappeared in a cloud of orbs.

"What have I done?" Chris asked himself solemnly.

And then in an over exaggerated arm movement, he telekinetically threw a stool from near the bar at high speed to the opposite wall, smashing it into tiny pieces.


	10. Chapter Ten

Chris let the warm water run over his head and down his back. He was leaning his head forward against the cold tiled wall of his parents' shower recess and hoped the warm water would somehow wash away the pain he was feeling from unintentionally changing his own history. He really didn't want to play this game anymore. His head hurt from the mix of memories his brain was still trying to sort out and now he felt like his heart had been ripped out as well. He was tired. So very, very tired. And he wondered if he had enough energy left to fight Wyatt. Again. It seemed like he had been fighting Wyatt most of his life. Maybe it was Wyatt's destiny to be evil and Chris should just accept it and give up? He sighed at the thought. He really didn't want to think at the moment, he just wanted to go numb, for a little while at least. He turned to lean his back against the shower wall and let the cooling water run directly down his face. He let his mind wander back to the last time he was here and how he had somehow put an emotional barrier up around himself, not letting any of his family in, except of course for that one time when the Spider Demon infected him and in the process shattered his defences. Other than that one time though, he had managed to stay completely focused on saving Wyatt, to the point where nothing else mattered, not Bianca, not even his own life in the end. Back then saving Wyatt had become the most important thing to him, because saving Wyatt in turn saved the future and he had not wanted to return to the original future he had come from. This time, though, he wasn't so focused and his family knew who he really was, so there was no facade to hide behind. He didn't have the strength to distance himself from them anymore, because his mother hadn't died when he was fourteen and his father hadn't ignored him all his life, they were both wonderful parents and he had lived a much better life. A life he wanted desperately to go back to.

Suddenly, it came to him.

"Why do I have to stay here?" He asked himself.

He felt his brain come to life again and his excitement grew as he starting connecting the dots that were his thoughts.

His enthusiasm back, and the numbness now gone, Chris all of a sudden realised the water in the shower had gone completely cold. He jumped out of the way and quickly turned the taps off.

"Geez, how long have I been in here?" He asked out loud as he hurriedly dried himself, before getting ready to go downstairs and share his idea with his waiting family.

As Chris walked down the stairs, he could see an audience waiting for him in the Living Room. Paige had obviously told everyone what had happened and they were waiting for an explanation.

"Chris, there you are, I was getting worried," Piper said, not wanting to press him for answers straight away.

"I'm fine Mum, thanks. In fact, I was just thinking…." Chris started to say until Leo interrupted.

"Paige told us what happened at P3," he said.

Chris looked at Paige, who for some reason immediately felt guilty for telling them and started to justify.

"I'm sorry, Chris, it's just you were acting kind of weird. I was worried about you," she said.

"No, you don't need to apologise, I don't mind you telling everyone. I was going to explain anyway," he said.

"What about future consequences?" Phoebe asked, having a dig at his stock phrase whenever asked anything about the future the last time he was here.

Chris smiled. "Okay, point taken, I did use that line a lot, but the circumstances were very different last time, and it's important I tell you what I did at P3 so you can somehow try to fix it for me."

"Wow, that was easy," Phoebe said. "I was expecting a big speech about how it will mess with the future."

"That's the problem," Chris explained. "I've already messed with the future, unintentionally. Sort of like Paige did when she went back in time and we ended up with flower loving hippy grams." They all nodded and smiled at the memory. "You guys fixed the timeline then, and I need you to do it again."

"You're getting ahead of yourself, Chris, just tell us what happened," Piper said gently.

"Okay," Chris said as he walked over and sat on the arm of the chair his father was sitting on. He looked at his Mum and Dad and continued, "I've already told you I'm engaged in the future, to a great girl." They both nodded. "I met her at Magic School. She grew up there because her parents were killed when she was a baby." He paused. "Well," he said looking around at all of them, "I just saved her parents' lives today and now she won't be growing up in Magic School and I will never meet her!"

"Wow," was all Phoebe could say.

"Wow is right," Paige agreed, "now I understand why you were acting the way you were."

"I had no idea who they were. I didn't know much about what happened, just that Jeni survived after her parents were killed and because they were attending an interview for Magic School, you took her in Paige. That's how we met, she now teaches at Magic School and so do I." Chris told them.

"You're a teacher?" Piper asked, not believing how much information she was getting from Chris this time around.

That question from his Mother made Chris smile and momentarily calm down. After pouring his heart out to them, his Mum had only made a comment about him being a teacher. He knew how happy she was with his chosen profession in the future, so wasn't surprised she chose that little bit of information to ask about.

"Yes, Mum, I'm a teacher," he said to her. "And I love it," he added.

"Did you hear that Leo, our son's a teacher," she said proudly to Leo.

"Yes, Piper, I did," Leo said smiling at her, "and I think that's great Chris, but continue with your story," he said trying to get the conversation back on track.

"The point is, after I'm gone, you have to promise me you'll track down Jeni's parents in London and make sure you get them back here. Somehow." He pleaded.

"What do you mean after you're gone?" Piper asked. "Where are you going?"

"That's what I came down here to tell you. I've just realised if I take Excalibur back to the future with me as soon as possible, then that should solve all our problems. Wyatt won't get a chance to steal it as an adult, or use it as a child. I will still have it in the future and be able to train with it properly. And when I return, Wyatt should follow me because there is nothing left for him in this time," Chris explained, satisfied that this was the answer.

"That does make sense," Phoebe agreed.

"Yes, but you came here on Wyatt's magic, getting you back won't be easy," Paige cautioned.

"What about the potion you made last time?" Chris asked.

"That was for your magic, Chris." Leo said to him.

"That's right, we made that potion based on the spell Chris had used for himself, and the Power of Three. Do you even know the spell Wyatt used?" Piper asked

Chris was looking increasingly deflated at the direction this conversation was taking.

"No," he answered shaking his head.

"It is a good idea, though," Piper agreed. "If we could make it work."

"Does that mean you'll at least try?" Chris asked, hopefully.

"Of course we'll try," Phoebe said reassuring him.

"How about you still start training with Excalibur tomorrow as we planned, and Paige, Phoebe and I will start working on that potion?" Leo asked him.

Chris nodded, "Sounds great! Thank you."

"Now, you'd better have some dinner," Piper said to him.

"Is everyone ready to eat?" Chris asked.

"Chris we all ate ages ago, while you were in the shower." Piper said to him.

"Oh, I didn't realise I was in there that long," he said.

"Don't worry, I saved you some it's in the fridge. You sit down at the table while I go and heat it up for you."

"Thanks, Mum."

Satisfied that his family wouldn't let him down regarding Jeni, and that they had a plan in place for Wyatt and Excalibur, Chris sat at the table feeling a renewed sense of determination.

Wyatt had a renewed sense of determination as well, but his was for a very different reason. In the short time he had been in the underworld, he had enjoyed it immensely. Demons were in complete disarray in this time frame, and they were crying out for someone to organise them. He was more than happy to appear to be their saviour, as they could all sense his power and were only too happy to cater to his every whim. They would all serve a useful purpose as decoys and backup for his plan to obtain Excalibur, and the best thing was he didn't feel at all guilty betraying their trust in him, as they were only demons after all. As he amassed his demonic forces with empty promises of using his power to help them defeat the Charmed Ones, he laughed to himself at how stupid they were for blindly following him. Power was everything to Wyatt, and he felt this was a dress rehearsal for how easily he would slip into the role of ruler of the world when he returned to his own time with Excalibur. Everything was going according to plan, and victory was so close he could smell it.


	11. Chapter Eleven

"You ready?" Piper asked Chris.

"Yes," Chris tried to say confidently.

Inside he didn't feel anywhere near ready. He'd had a reasonable night's sleep and a good breakfast and was supposed to feel ready to begin learning the art of using Excalibur from his Mother. Truth is, he'd avoided this moment most of his adult life. He was afraid of what the power would do to him, even though his Father assured him it would not corrupt its true owner. Chris looked at Excalibur wedged securely in its home of stone. All he had to do was reach out and pull it free. His family were watching him, waiting to see him prove to them that he truly was destined to be the magical sword's master. What they didn't know was he would also be proving it to himself. Chris hesitated, suddenly overcome with self-doubt. For years his Father and the Elders had been telling him he was the chosen one, but he had never been able to test their words as the stone had been destroyed in his time many years ago. Now, finally, he would find out for certain, and he could not shake the feeling in the pit of his stomach that maybe they were all wrong. Wyatt was more powerful than him after all; it made much more sense that it belonged to Wyatt. He looked back at his family, still waiting, and wondered if they were doubting his story right now as well. He forced a smile, trying to appear confident, as he reached out his hand to grasp the sword. He wrapped his hand around the cold metal handle and realised he was sweating both on his palms and his forehead from the anxiety. He just hoped the excess moisture wouldn't cause the sword to slip from his hand, making him look a complete fool in the process. He took a deep breath, and then closed his eyes, gently starting to pull on the sword, and to his great relief and complete surprise it started to come free extremely easily. Immediately he could feel the power flow through his body, and it got stronger the closer Excalibur came to being completely freed. The feeling was so intense that when he finally pulled the magical sword completely free he had to take a step back to steady himself.

"Overwhelming, isn't it?" Piper said to him.

"Completely," Chris answered, having now found his footing.

"Okay, show's over people, we've got some serious training to do. Off you go, you've got a potion to make, times a wasting," Piper said as she tried to herd Leo, Paige and Phoebe out of the attic.

"All right, we're going," said Leo, "and just remember if you have any trouble just shout and I'll come right away."

"We'll be fine," Piper reassured him.

"Thanks, Dad," Chris called to him as they started walking down the stairs, Piper closing the door behind them.

Chris had turned his attention back to the sword trying to find a comfortable grip that allowed him to compensate for how heavy it was.

Piper could see what he was doing. "Don't worry, in a few hours you'll feel like you were born using it," she said reassuring him. She walked over and picked up the sword she had conjured that morning and readied herself. "Let's get started," she said.

Deep in the Underworld, Wyatt had been rounding up demonic support when he sensed Excalibur. He knew immediately that Chris had removed it from the stone and that now time was against him. He needed to gather as many low-level demons as he could and implement his plan as soon as possible. His plan was to distract the sisters with as many simultaneous demonic attacks as possible, all around the city, leaving him free to go to the manor and fight Chris, if he had to, for Excalibur. Unfortunately he saw no way around keeping Chris alive, he could not take him back to the future with him as he would just take back Excalibur again, nor could he leave him in the past for he could prevent his younger self from ever using the Magical Sword. Seeing no other way around it, he had coldly decided Chris would have to be an unfortunate casualty of his quest. He looked around at the demons in front of him, but decided he still needed more. He thought afew more hours wouldn't make any difference; he just had to make sure everything was right.

More than four hours had past, without a break, when both Piper and Chris noticed a tray of food being orbed into the attic.

"I think Dad's trying to send us a message," Chris said, grinning.

Piper looked at her watch, "Wow, I didn't realise how long we'd been at this, we could definitely use a break."

Piper grabbed the tray and walked over to the couch, placing the tray on a small table in front of it. Chris decided to stretch out on the floor near the table.

They ate quietly for a while before Chris broke the silence, "Dad was right, you're very good at this considering you were only trained for a couple of days yourself."

"Thank you," Piper said, accepting the compliment. "You seem to be catching on very quickly, as well. How do you feel?" She asked.

"I feel fine, I guess," he answered, not sure what sort of answer she was looking for.

"Do you feel confident using Excalibur? How are you coping with the extra power?" She asked, still searching for the right words.

"Oh, I know what you want to ask," Chris said suddenly realising where his Mother's questions were leading. "No, I don't feel like taking over the world."

"Sorry. Had to ask," Piper said slightly embarrassed.

"Yet," Chris added with a grin.

"Don't joke," she said trying not to laugh herself, "it can happen easier than you think."

"I know," Chris said more seriously this time, thinking back to his original future, and to Wyatt's evil rule.

"You, know, I don't want to hurt him," Chris said to her honestly. "I never have. I just want him to go back to how he was when we were kids. We were very close, and then it all just…changed," he said, not really wanting to elaborate.

Piper could see the pain in her son's eyes as he was obviously thinking back.

"You may have to," she said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked her, surprised at what she had just said.

"Hurt him. You may have to, Chris. We both know he's more than capable of hurting you," she looked away to compose herself wondering whether to continue voicing her fears. Deciding it was in Chris' best interest to confront the issue, she turned to look directly into Chris' eyes as she added, "killing you even."

Chris could see how hard it was for his Mother to admit this to him, but he also knew she was speaking the truth.

"But," he started to say, but Piper interrupted him.

"No buts, Chris. He will fight you for Excalibur and he will fight you to win. Defence will only get you so far. You have to want to win as well. I will not have you die because of Wyatt again." She said firmly to him.

Chris suddenly realised how hard his death must have hit her last time. He hadn't really thought about it, because he always thought she had Baby Chris, but come to think of it he had lived with them for nearly two years so his death must have had an impact on all of them in some way.

Chris could have dropped the subject there, but he wanted to get through to his Mother his feelings, just in case. "It's much easier said, than done." Chris said to her, and then he continued, "I vowed I would kill Wyatt last time, if I couldn't save him before I was born, but I don't think I could have gone through with it." He paused, and then asked her, "Could you kill him?"

"What kind of question is that?" She asked him, slightly angry.

"Well, you're concerned about me, but what if he was threatening me, or Paige or Phoebe. Could you attack him to save one of us?"

Piper realised she hadn't thought about it.

"That's a decision I hope I don't have to make," she said dismissing him.

"I hope so too," Chris agreed deciding to drop the subject.

"Are you ready to start again?" She asked him, as she stood up.

"As ready as I'll ever be." He answered.

Chris and Piper had not long started training again when Leo, Paige and Phoebe orbed in. Piper went to yell at them for the intrusion, but then saw the urgent look on their faces.

"What is it, what's wrong?" she asked.

"I've just heard from the Elders, there have been demonic attacks all over the city. We've been asked to go out and save as many people as we can." Leo said as calmly as he could.

"Why would so many demons be attacking out in the open like this?" Piper asked.

"Wyatt," Chris answered.

"Well, if it's Wyatt then I should stay with Chris because this is obviously a trap." Piper stated.

"Innocents are dying, Piper, it's a demonic onslaught," Phoebe said to her, "if Chris needs us he can call Leo."

"She's right, Mum, you have to go. I don't want innocent lives on my conscience. I'll call Dad if I need help. Did you have any luck with the time potion?" He asked Leo.

"Sorry, not yet," Leo answered. "But, don't worry, we will," he added.

Chris nodded in response.

"You're with me," Paige said to Piper, "come on we've gathered heaps of potions."

Piper moved over to Paige and held her hand. "Remember what I taught you," she said to Chris.

"I will," Chris said to her.

"I'll take Phoebe, if any of you need help, just call," Leo said to all of them, but particularly to Chris, and then the four of them orbed out.

Chris was only alone for a few seconds before he heard someone orb in behind him. He turned, knowing exactly who it would be. Wyatt stood in front of him, confidently holding a sword of his own.

"Hello, Wyatt," Chris said to him, then his eyes moved down the sword Wyatt was holding.

"You noticed I've come prepared. This demonic sword is powerful," he said holding it out in front of him and looking at it approvingly. Then turning his attention back to Chris, he continued, "Although nowhere near as powerful as Excalibur, it will serve its purpose. The underworld can be a very useful place, you know."

"I won't let you take Excalibur, you'll have to kill me first," Chris said to him.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Chris, because that is an invitation too good to refuse," Wyatt said, half smiling, as he walked calmly toward Chris.

Chris tried to appear confident as he stood his ground, but he could feel his hands trembling and a lump start to form in his throat the closer Wyatt came. He wondered for a split second whether he should call out to his Father for help, but decided against it, wanting to finally face Wyatt alone. The time for thinking was now over as Wyatt, now in front of Chris, did not hesitate as he lifted his sword to strike Chris down.

Chris instinctively blocked his strike, and then again and again, as Wyatt released all his fury at once. Chris tried to remain calm, remembering what his Mother had just taught him and feeling the power of Excalibur flow through him. He found that he moved from the defensive to the offensive as he struck out at Wyatt for the first time, taking Wyatt by surprise. Wyatt managed to block just in time pushing Chris away.

"I'm impressed little Brother, you've worked hard over the past few hours, but it will be no match for my years of experience." Wyatt said arrogantly.

"We'll see," was all Chris had to say, now feeling more confident. So confident, in fact, that he did not wait for Wyatt to attack him again, instead he lifted the sword and started striking at Wyatt hoping he would realise that Chris was not the weak little brother Wyatt was used to, but a formidable opponent worthy of Excalibur.

At the same time Piper with Paige and Leo with Phoebe had their own battle on their hands, frantically fighting off multiple demonic attacks throughout the city, completely unaware of the battle going on between the two brothers at the manor.


	12. Chapter Twelve

"Leo!" Piper shouted, desperately. When she failed to get a response, she carefully moved her head around the dumpster she had taken refuge behind and saw at least a dozen different demons heading in her direction. She looked down at her unconscious sister lying next to her, blood dripping from a nasty wound on her forehead. "Hang in there, Paige, I'm sure he'll be here in a second," she said more to reassure herself than her unconscious sibling.

"Leo, we need you, now!" Piper called again as she stood up to freeze the rapidly advancing demons. Unfortunately, as had been the case on several occasions during this battle, not all the demons froze. At least four shimmered out, but she ignored them for now, concentrating on blowing up the frozen demons that remained. Suddenly she heard a familiar voice shout out to her, "Piper, look out!" was all she heard her husband say, before being grabbed from behind. The experience of many battles taught her to lunge forward, flipping the demon over in the process, and then she finished him off by using her exploding power.

"Stay down!" Phoebe shouted at Piper, and then threw her remaining potions at the three demons about to attack behind her sister.

Piper cautiously lifted her head from the dirty alley asphalt, as Leo ran over to her.

"Are they all gone?" She asked him, holding on to the hand he offered to help her up.

"For now," he said, looking around. "Where's Paige?" Leo asked suddenly noticing she wasn't with Piper.

"She's injured, you have to heal her. I moved her over here behind the dumpster," Piper said as she walked in that direction.

Leo and Phoebe followed her, and Leo bent down to heal the obvious wound on her forehead.

As the wound disappeared under Leo's glowing hands, Paige's eyes started to flutter open.

"Is it over yet?" she asked her two sisters and brother-in-law who were staring down at her.

"We don't know, how do you feel?" asked Piper.

"Better, thanks," Paige answered, while trying to get up.

"Well, we're all out of potions, so I think the best plan would be for us all to orb back to the Manor to get some more," Piper suggested, "and I can check on Chris at the same time. We should have heard from him by now."

"You three go back while I check with the Elders to see if the immediate threat is over," Leo told them. "Once again, if you need me, just call,"

Leo, not waiting for their approval, immediately disappeared in a cloud of orbs.

"Okay!" Piper shouted to the sky after he disappeared.

"Well, let's go home," Paige said to them as she held both their hands making the three of them disappear also.

A few seconds later, the three battle weary witches rematerialised in the kitchen of the manor.

"You two get some more potions ready, while I go and check on Chris," Piper said as she walked toward the stairs.

As she got closer to the attic she could clearly hear some sort of fighting going on. She opened the door and was immediately confronted by her two sonsfighting each other. Both were injured, having cuts and bruises visible all over their bodies. Their clothes had been ripped, and she noticed Chris had bad gashes on his left shoulder and across his stomach that were bleeding. Wyatt was also not unscathed having bad wounds on his right arm and right leg.

"Chris!" she shouted.

Both Chris and Wyatt had not noticed their mother enter the room, and her calling out startled both of them.

"Mum!" Chris exclaimed. "Get out of here," he shouted back as he moved his hand in her direction and she found herself being orbed out.

Piper orbed into the Living Room downstairs. "Damn you Chris!" she cursed as she started to climb the stairs again.

Phoebe and Paige hearing her arrival ran into the Living Room as she reached the bottom of the staircase.

"What is it?" Phoebe asked her.

Piper turned to look at them, "It's Chris, he and Wyatt are sword fighting in the attic, both are injured, I've got to stop them." She said as she started to make her way upstairs again.

"How did you get down here?" Paige asked her.

"Chris orbed me out," she shouted back down to Paige from the top of the stairs.

As Piper ran along the hallway to the attic stairs she shouted desperately for Leo, who immediately appeared in front of her blocking her path.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked, seeing how frantic Piper was.

"Our adult sons are fighting each other in the attic. They'll kill each other if we don't stop them. I tried before, but Chris orbed me out," she said, almost hysterical.

"Wait a minute, let's think about this," Leo started to say.

Frustrated, Piper tried to push past him, "We don't have time!"

"Piper," Leo said, grabbing her and turning her to face him. "If you go bursting in there again he'll only orb you out once more. I'll orb us both in, and we'll try and stop them together."

Piper suddenly thought back to her conversation with Chris earlier that day.

"But how will we stop Wyatt, Leo? I can't hurt my own son!" She said to him.

"You might have to, to save Chris. Don't worry, I'll be there to heal him, just try to wound him, okay. Trust me." Leo said convincingly.

Piper immediately felt at ease. It never ceased to astound her how his voice of reason was able to instantly calm her in even the most dire of situations.

"I trust you," she said.

"Okay, you ready?" He asked her.

She nodded, and the two of them orbed out.

Neither of them were prepared for what they saw when they rematerialised in the attic. Chris had Wyatt, who was completely defenceless, pinned against the wall with Excalibur pushed hard against his throat.

"You give up?" Chris was asking him.

Before Wyatt could answer, Chris turned to see who had just orbed behind him and in the process he ever so slightly dropped his guard. Unfortunately for him, that was the only opening Wyatt needed. With all his remaining strength, Wyatt pushed Chris away, which caused him to loosen his grip on Excalibur at the same time. Wyatt used his telekinetic powers to take control of Excalibur pushing it towards Chris' back as he fell.

Piper could see what was happening and motioned her powers toward Wyatt to stop him. It did not stop Excalibur, however, and Piper looked on in horror as she saw Excalibur wedge itself into Chris' back. At the same time, because of her magical attack on him, Wyatt was flung backwards into the wall, a small explosion coming from his stomach. She watched helplessly as both her sons fell motionless to the floor.

"Oh, God, no!" she exclaimed as she ran toward both of them.

She reached Chris first and turned him on his side. Chris opened his eyes and looked up to her.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Don't worry, your Dad's going to heal you, you'll be fine." She said as she turned to look for Leo.

But Leo wasn't there. Frantically she looked around the room. Leo was nowhere in sight.

"Leo! Where the hell are you?" Piper hysterically shouted at the top of her voice.

Tearswelled up in Piper's eyesas she turned to look back down at Chris, barely conscious on the floor.

"Did you see? I beat him? I actually beat Wyatt," Chris said to her

."Yes, I saw," she said trying to force a smile, "just hold on, I'm going to check on your brother."

Piper moved over to Wyatt's still motionless body. He was unconscious, and very badly injured with a wound to his stomach, but he was alive.

Piper knew that neither son had long to live, and sat on the floor between the two of them shouting desperately for her husband to appear, "Leo, please, we need you. Your sons need you." Then breaking down crying she put her head in her hands and whispered "they'll die soon, Leo, please."

Leo materialised in a very dark place. He looked around and saw nothing but darkness.

"Where am I?" He shouted. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"

"We need to talk," came the reply from a familiar voice behind him.

Leo turned around and could not believe who was walking toward him.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

WARNING – POSSIBLE SPOILERS.

I have chosen to use a character in the last few chapters that is currently in episodes airing in the U.S. While I have tried to not actually give away any information regarding the current storylines of the TV Show, in writing my story I have had to make up my own version as to what will happen. I am issuing this warning in case there is anyone reading my story that would prefer to remain completely unspoiled. Otherwise please read on:

"I thought I'd seen the last of you," Leo said, bitterly, to the person approaching him from the darkness.

"So had we," he replied.

"Why have you brought me here? Return me to Piper, I need to save my sons." Leo demanded.

"Yes you do, but first we need to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you. Now, return me to the Manor immediately!" Leo shouted angrily.

"There is nothing to be achieved by raising your voice, Leo. We did not intend to make contact with you again, but circumstances have changed, and we need to talk to you and the sisters and your sons. The matter is of an urgent nature."

"What do you mean, circumstances have changed?" Leo asked.

"We will explain everything in good time. For now, we need your word that you will not attack us. We do not wish to fight you, nor hurt you. We just want you to agree to hear our proposal."

Leo was looking around desperately trying to figure a way out, so he didn't have to listen to them again, be fooled by them again.

"Time is against you Leo, at this moment both your sons are near death. You need to make a decision."

"If I don't agree?" Leo asked.

"Then, unfortunately you will not make it back in time to save them."

Leo held his stare, knowing he had no choice.

Piper had moved next to Chris, who was drifting in and out of consciousness. She had removed the sword and was pushing a towel against the deep wound in his back, in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. Phoebe and Paige had now joined her. Phoebe was sitting next to Wyatt, who was still unconscious, while Paige was calling out for Leo.

"He's not going to come, Paige," Piper said to her. "We need to get the boys to hospital."

"They won't survive in hospital, Piper. We need Leo." Paige replied.

"I have to do something! I can't just sit here and watch my sons die!" Piper shouted desperately.

"Mum," Chris whispered.

"Chris," she said, startled to see him conscious again.

Chris' breathing all of a sudden became difficult, and Piper could see he was struggling.

"No, Chris, just hold on, please," she pleaded with him.

"I'm sorry," he managed to say in between laboured breathes.

The scene was all too familiar to Paige, and as tears were streaming down her cheeks she couldn't believe she was watching Chris go through this again.

Suddenly everything disappeared around them, and they found themselves surrounded by complete darkness.

"What, the?" Paige began to say, but then saw Leo approaching.

"Leo!" She exclaimed, relieved.

Leo immediately bent down and put his healing hands over Chris' back. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, while waiting to see if his healing would work this time, unlike last time.

To everyone's relief within seconds the wounds started to disappear and Chris' breathing calmed down. With Chris now completely healed, Leo moved over to Wyatt and repeated the process.

Chris slowly started to sit up.

"Take it easy," Piper said to him.

Chris looked around, "Where the hell are we?" he asked.

Piper looked around too, only now just noticing where they were. "I don't know," she answered. "Leo, what's going on? Where are we?" She asked looking over at Leo who was helping Wyatt to sit up.

Before Leo could answer a voice could be heard coming from the darkness, "Where you are doesn't matter," he said.

Piper stood up and looked in the direction of the voice, and out of the darkness came Alpha, the Avatar she hoped she would never see again.

Not even bothering to speak, she went to use her powers on him, but Leo stopped her.

"Wait, Piper," he said, holding onto her hands.

"What do you mean? Don't tell me you're working with them again?"

"Working with who? Who are these people?" Chris asked his parents.

"Avatars, Chris, and no, Piper, I'm not working with them again, but I did promise we'd listen to them. That's why you were brought here and I was able to save Wyatt and Chris." Leo told her.

"What or who are Avatars?" Chris asked.

Piper ignored his question, instead turning to Leo, "Let me get this straight," she said "They took you away so you couldn't heal them, and then told you that you could only heal them if you promised to listen?"

Leo nodded. "I know they are manipulative, but I had no choice, I couldn't let Chris and Wyatt die."

"Manipulative is an understatement!" Piper said to him.

"As I said, I had no choice." Leo reiterated.

Phoebe looked at Alpha and said confidently, "I thought you would have learned your lesson the last time we met,"

"As I was explaining to Leo, circumstances have changed that have caused us to rethink our course of action," Alpha said to all of them.

"Where are Tweedledee and Tweedledum?" Piper asked sarcastically.

"If you are talking about Gamma and Beta, they are in preparation." Alpha replied.

"Enough riddles Alpha, just tell us what you want." Leo demanded.

"Very well. The events of recent months have taken a much greater toll on our powers than originally thought. Normally after…"

"Yadda, yadda, yadda. Get to the point," Piper interrupted impatiently.

"We are dying, Piper," Alpha concluded.

"Wow!" Paige said.

"What do you mean? Are **you** dying?" Leo asked.

"No, Leo. We as a collective, the Avatars are dying." Alpha said quietly.

"I don't understand, how is that possible?" Phoebe asked.

"As I said before, recent events took more of a toll on our powers than we expected. We have been unable to recover, and subsequently our powers are getting weaker. We have tried every way we know how, but have been unable to reverse what is happening." Alpha explained.

"That's all very sad and all. Really, I mean it when I say I'm sorry to hear that, but we've done what you asked, we've listened to you, now could you return us from wherever we are back to our house please." Piper said as nicely as she could.

"I haven't finished yet," Alpha said to her.

"I was afraid you were going to say that," Piper said with a sigh.

"We had accepted our fate," Alpha continued, "having exhausted all avenues to continue our existence, we decided that there was nothing more we could do. Until," he paused looking around at all of them.

"Until, what?" Paige asked.

"Until a couple of days ago, when we sensed a new power. This was a type of power we had never sensed in a human before. A power that was worthy of carrying on the Avatar collective." Alpha paused again, allowing what he was saying to sink in to his reluctant audience.

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked, trying to understand what he was getting at.

"He's talking about Wyatt," Chris said to Leo and then turned to Alpha, "aren't you."

Alpha nodded. "Yes, Wyatt has powers as an adult that we could not sense in him as a child."

"What!" Piper exclaimed. "No, way. Been there, done that in this family. There is no way we are doing it again."

"It is not the same as Leo, Piper," Alpha explained.

"I don't care! This family doesn't want to have anything to do with the Avatars ever again!" She said firmly.

"But it's not up to you, Mother, and I want to hear what he has to say." Wyatt said walking forward, after listening to the conversation silently up until that point.

"Wyatt, these people are not to be believed, you cannot trust them. Believe me," she pleaded with him.

But Wyatt ignored her, instead turning his attention to Alpha. "Tell me your proposal, and more about who you are."

"We are Avatars, Wyatt. Our power is immense, more than you could ever dream of," Alpha started to say.

"I don't know, he dreams about a lot," Chris cut in, sarcastically.

"If you are so powerful, then why have I not heard of you?" Wyatt asked, ignoring Chris' comment.

"We must have died out in your original timeline, but since you have returned to this time, we are hopeful that the Avatar power will live on. You could do almost anything with this power, and it will grow the older you get. Eventually you will be able to manipulate time by yourself as we do now as a collective. What we are proposing is to give you all our power before we die." Alpha finally said.

Wyatt's eyes lit up at this proposal.

Nobody else's did, however.

"You're not suggesting he just join you, as I did," Leo clarified.

"No, it is not possible to save us, but it is possible to pass on our powers, to the right person." Alpha said.

"Why don't you just give them to him anyway? Why do you need his permission?" Chris asked.

"That is not our way, Chris. A person must give up their free will willingly to absorb our powers."

"So, if Wyatt says no, then you can't go ahead with your plans?" Leo asked.

"That is right, Leo, but I see no reason why he would say no. This is an opportunity he has always dreamed about. The power of Excalibur is nothing compared to the power we are offering him." Alpha said to Leo, and then turned to Wyatt. "Think about it Wyatt, but you don't have long."

"Wyatt, I'm begging you, do not agree to this." Piper pleaded again.

"There is nothing to think about, of course I agree." He said confidently.

"A wise decision. Now there is much work to be done before we transfer our powers to Baby Wyatt." Gamma said.

"What? What do you mean? You said you were going to transfer your powers to me?" Wyatt shouted, angrily.

"Yes, we are, but just the baby version of you. It would be impossible to pass them onto you as an adult. These powers are like a seed, they will grow with Baby Wyatt as he gets older, become a part of him. That is the only way we can do this." Alpha said calmly trying to explain.

"You tricked me!" Wyatt exclaimed as he tried to use his telekinetic powers on the Avatar.

"Your powers won't work here." He said.

Piper turned to Leo, "We've got to do something, Leo. We can't let him do this to our son."

"There's nothing you can do, Piper. Leo, in fact will help Wyatt." Alpha said.

"What do you mean?' Leo asked.

"Because you have been a part of the Avatar collective, you will be drawn to Wyatt, to help him and guide him with his new powers. You will always be there for him." Alpha explained.

"I have two sons, I will not favour one more than the other." Leo said firmly.

"I'm afraid you will not have a choice Leo." Alpha said.

"Please don't do this, Alpha," Piper pleaded, "I'm begging you."

"The process is already underway," he said. "It is a time for celebration, and we have Chris partly to thank for this."

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

"If you had not jumped in the time portal with Wyatt, then he would not have landed in this time and we would not have sensed him. He was hoping to land in a time many years from now. By then we would have ceased to exist." Alpha explained.

All of a sudden reality hit Chris. He realised what all the events he had just witnessed were leading to, and he couldn't believe it.

"There is much to prepare. When I return, our last act will be to reset time to this morning. You will all remember nothing of what has happened here, nor will you remember anything about Chris and Wyatt's visit from the future. I will return shortly." Alpha said, before disappearing.

Chris was still frantically trying to work everything out in his head, but no matter how he looked at it, he came up with the same answer.

"Oh my God!" He exclaimed.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

SAME SPOILER WARNING AS LAST CHAPTER

"Oh! My! God!" Chris repeated.

The others ignored his cry, instead they were trying to find a way out. Leo decided to head in one direction, through the darkness, only to reappear coming from the other direction moments later.

"This is hopeless. I can't orb and we can't walk out, and magic doesn't work. We're trapped!" Leo conceded.

"I don't believe what's happening!" Chris exclaimed.

"We're all right there with you, Chris," Phoebe said.

"No, you don't understand. Don't you see what's really happening here? This is all leading to my original future."

"What do you mean?" Piper asked him.

"Everything that Alpha guy just said; Wyatt being super powerful, Dad ignoring me and favouring Wyatt. Also, I won't be meeting Jeni, I took care of that." Chris blurted out, hardly taking a breath.

"Hold on, what are you saying? You think this is all leading to your original future? How is that possible?" Asked Piper.

"I don't think it is," said Leo. "Anyway, we know about Gideon, and about you coming back to save Wyatt. You didn't know any of that when you returned to us last time."

"What if you decided not to tell me, to protect me? Or maybe you thought you'd tell me when I got older, but Mum died and I hardly ever saw you Dad, so it just never happened." Chris reasoned.

"But you said you grew up knowing that Wyatt had turned evil before you were born, if it was the Avatars, then why would you think that?" Phoebe asked him.

"I grew up thinking Wyatt had been turned evil before I was born because of Grandpa. He told me an evil had threatened Wyatt before I was born. You guys never told me anything. You had enough to deal with Mum, with Wyatt's mood swings and changes, we never discussed why. The evilthat Grandpa was talking about was probably Gideon." Chris explained.

"Okay, well, there is no way I would have let you travel back in time again, knowing what happened to you the first time." Leo said, confident this would dispel his theory.

"Dad, I didn't tell anyone I was travelling back to save Wyatt except Bianca. I couldn't risk telling anyone, especially you because you were still close to Wyatt." Chris said, absolutely convinced that this was the cause of his original future.

Everyone was stunned, not knowing what to say.

"And, as Alpha just said, none of you will remember any of this, so you will not know to change anything!"

"What are you saying, Chris, this power will make me grow up to be ruler of the world, like you told me in your original future?" Wyatt asked.

"It has to be, Wyatt. It all makes sense now; the powers you had in my original future were way beyond anything I've seen you have now. And the scary thing is, they were still growing. As Alpha just said." Chris told him.

Wyatt allowed himself a smug smile, but remained silent, when Chris continued.

"Something else I've just realised. I'm actually the cause of all of this."

"That's ridiculous!" Piper said, dismissing him.

"Mum, Alpha just said it. He thanked me. It was because I was in the time portal with Wyatt that we ended up in this time and the Avatars became aware of him. If I hadn't travelled through time with him, none of this would be happening." Chris explained.

Once again there was stunned silence as everyone was trying to process this new piece of information.

"I can't believe I came back in time to save Wyatt from turning evil, and not only did I go back to the wrong time, but I was the one who caused it in the first place." Chris said, exasperated.

"Chris, you can't blame yourself like that. There are many events that you can point to that caused this to happen." Leo said trying to console him.

"But mine was the trigger, Dad." Chris stated.

"So if Chris is right, and this is the cause of his original timeline, then we've been here before." Paige worked out.

"What do you mean?" Piper asked her.

"Time travel really gives me a headache." Phoebe cut in.

"A time paradox," both Chris and Leo said together.

"What's a time paradox?" Phoebe said almost afraid to ask.

"If what Chris says is true, then the timeline has now been changed where Wyatt will grow up an Avatar, as in Chris' original timeline. He will return to save Wyatt and will end up dying because of Gideon. Baby Chris will grow up and merge with the other Chris and then go back in time with Wyatt to get Excalibur, as this Chris and Wyatt have done. This causes the Avatars to give Baby Wyatt their powers and Wyatt will grow up evil as in Chris' original future. And so it goes on and on."

Leo tried to explain as best he could.

"This is seriously doing my head in." Phoebe said.

"There is no telling how many times we've gone through this before, or for that matter what the original timeline was." Chris said.

"So you're telling me we are destined to keep repeating this over and over again." Piper summed up.

"We're only guessing, but if this is right, and it does sound like it is, then yes, time will keep repeating itself until something happens to break the loop." Leo said.

"How do we know what that is?" Piper asked.

"We don't," Leo told her, "Any decision we make, we've probably made before. There is no way to know how to change it."

Suddenly Alpha reappeared.

"It is done." He said.

"No, Alpha, you have to reverse it," Leo pleaded with him.

"That's impossible, in a few minutes the other Avatars and myself will cease to exist as will Chris and Wyatt, and time will be reset to this morning."

He explained.

"Why will Chris and Wyatt cease to exist?" Asked Phoebe.

"Because the timeline has changed," Chris answered before Alpha could.

"Exactly." He said.

"What you have done is going to cause a time paradox, you have to reverse it somehow." Leo pleaded once again.

Before their eyes, Alpha started to fade.

"I'm sorry, Leo, it's too late, everything will work out, you'll see." He said.

They all turned to look at Wyatt and Chris who were also fading.

"No, this can't be happening," Piper said frantically as she helplessly watched her two sons ceasing to exist in front of her.

"We have to find a way to stop this!" Chris shouted, before he and Wyatt disappeared completely.

"Chris!" Leo said reaching out for him, before he and the others were sucked backwards into the darkness.


	15. Epilogue

Earlier that morning Piper was sitting at the kitchen table feeding Baby Wyatt, and Phoebe was sitting next to her feeding Baby Chris their breakfast.

"Do you think Wyatt looks a little different this morning?" Piper asked Phoebe.

Phoebe looked over at him, "No, he looks like the same adorable nephew he always is," she answered.

"I just thought he looked a little glassy eyed this morning," Piper said, "oh well, I'm sure it's nothing."

Just then Paige orbed in.

"You went to Magic School early this morning," Piper said to her.

"Yes I had a message to call that teacher that I interviewed this week. The one who decided to move to London with his wife and baby daughter instead," she said. "He said he had a message from me to call as soon as possible, but I can't for the life of me remember why I wanted to talk to him."

"That's strange," Phoebe said.

"I'm sure if it's important it will come to me," she said.

"I'm glad you're both here." Piper said to them. "I've been meaning to tell you, that Leo and I have decided not to tell Chris or Wyatt what happened with the whole Gideon thing. We may tell Chris when he gets older, but we thought it was best not to say anything, especially because everything's worked out for the best and Wyatt was saved in time."

"Good thinking," Phoebe agreed.

"There's no sense in scaring them unnecessarily," Paige added.

"Oh, is that the time?" Phoebe asked frantically, "I'm late, bye boys," she said kissing both nephews on the forehead, and running out of the kitchen.

"Bye Phoebe," Piper called after her, sarcastically.

Phoebe's voice could be heard faintly from the distance, "Bye Piper, bye Paige."

Paige also realised she was due back at Magic School and orbed out leaving Piper alone with her two sons.

"Now, I'll get you two ready to go out with Daddy," Piper said to both Wyatt and Chris, when, conveniently, Leo orbed in.

"Hi Leo, I'm just about to get them both ready," Piper said to him.

Leo went straight over to Wyatt.

"Hi, buddy, how you going?" He asked him, while stroking his hair.

"I think I'll just take out Wyatt today, Piper," Leo suggested to her.

"Oh, why's that?" She asked.

"Well, I've been thinking, I missed out on spending a lot of time with him last year, when I was an Elder, and I'd like to make up for that, with a bit of one on one, you understand?" He asked trying to explain his feelings. "Chris is still just a baby, there'll be plenty of opportunities for us to spend time together later," he added.

Piper thought about this for a few seconds, and then conceded she understood.

"Okay, fine." She agreed.

"Thanks," he said.

Leo picked up Wyatt's bag that Piper had already prepared and then picked up Wyatt.

"We'll see you later this afternoon," he said kissing her and then orbing out.

Piper turned to look at Chris sitting patiently in his highchair. "Well I guess it's just you and me, kid," she said, as she stood up to clean up the kitchen hopingher day would be as normal as possible.

- - - This was going to be the end of my story. I hope you enjoyed it.

- - -If you would like me to continue and try to resolve the time paradox, please let me know.


	16. Future Conseqences: Fragments Chapter O...

"Chris….No….Chris!!"

Leo suddenly shot up to a sitting position in bed. He was out of breath and disoriented. He looked around the dark room trying to remember where he was. He instinctively reached out for Piper next to him, but she wasn't there. His heart skipped a beat as he couldn't think of where she would be. Then he called out, "Lights," and instantly the room was filled with light. His breathing was now starting to slow down as he looked around and realised where he was.

"Well, that was the worse one so far," he said out loud as he climbed out of bed. Slowly he walked to his rather large bathroom and waved his hand over a sensor near the door to turn on the light. He stumbled up to the basin, still thinking about the disturbing dream he had just had, and waved his hand over another sensor and the water started flowing out of a single tap. He cupped his hands and filled them with the cold flowing water and splashed his face, and then repeated the process. He sighed heavily as he looked at himself in the mirror and saw the same person staring back at him that he had been seeing in the mirror for decades. Too many decades. Angels don't age, he knew that, so on the outside he looked exactly the same as he had done when given his wings so long ago. But the inside was a different story. On the inside his soul felt very old. Tired even, if that were possible. He often thought there would have to be a limit as to how long a soul can remain on Earth before it would start to decay, which would prevent it from ever being recycled. Lately he'd been feeling like he was reaching that limit. Maybe that's why he'd been having these nightmares? Whatever the reason, unfortunately there was nothing much he could do about it, seeing as he was one of the few Elders left in the world, Wyatt having killed most of them years ago. Other than him, the few that were left had gone into hiding, and considering his relationship with Wyatt, he was not surprised that none of them had ever contacted him.

He walked out of the bathroom, waving his hand over the sensor again on his way out. Grabbed a T-shirt from a chair and walked over to a sensor pad near a large glass sliding door with shutters closed on the outside. He put his hand against the pad and then once that was approved he pressed a button at the top of the console, immediately the shutters opened allowing sunlight to stream in through the glass door, and then he heard the door unlock. He opened the door and walked out onto the balcony, staring at the amazing view of the bay. He was grateful that the apartment didn't face the city, which was still in ruins after the many battles it took for Wyatt to gain power. He didn't think he'd ever come out to the balcony if he was going to be reminded of that every time. It was coming up to two years since Wyatt had given him this apartment and insisted that he live here. He had stressed the importance of his Father living in a place appropriate to his stature. Wyatt had gone on and on about people realising the power from which he had been born, and apparently Leo living in this apartment would remind people of that fact. This was no consolation to Leo, though, while so many people were homeless, he had this huge penthouse all to himself, and he felt very guilty about that. He didn't want it when Wyatt gave it to him, and he still didn't want it now. But how do you say no to Wyatt? He had yet to figure that one out.

As he leant over the balcony his mind wandered back to the garbled dream he had just had. It had been similar to the others, but this one had involved Chris somehow. He couldn't remember much about any of the dreams after he woke up, but he did know they were all very disturbing and very similar. He thought about it for a minute, and then made a decision. He needed to contact Chris. Well, first he needed to find Chris. He didn't have a clue where he was, or what he was doing. He was so busy dealing with Wyatt he'd lost contact with Chris many years before and the time just never seemed right to make contact again. Then the answer came to him, "Victor" he said. "I'll ask Victor." That decision made, Leo made his way inside to prepare to track down Victor.

"Leo Wyatt? Sorry, don't know anyone by that name," came the gravely voice down the security intercom.

"Come on Victor, you know who I am, I just…." Leo stopped talking when he realised Victor had switched the intercom off at his end.

"I don't have time for this," he said to himself and then disappeared in a cloud of orbs, reappearing seconds later in Victor's very small, very basic apartment.

"Must be important to…" Victor stopped mid sentence, suddenly fearing the worst. "There's nothing wrong with Chris is there?"

"No or rather I don't know. That's why I'm here." Leo answered him.

Victor's relief was immediately evident, then he became curious, "What do you mean, that's why you're here?"

"I need to contact Chris, urgently, but I don't know where he is. I was hoping you could help me?" Leo asked him.

"Can't you sense him, you used to always be able to sense him?" Victor queried.

"No," Leo said sadly, "I haven't been able to sense him in years. I don't think he wants to have anything to do with me."

"Do you blame him?" Victor asked all too quickly.

Leo looked at Victor and knew he didn't have a high opinion of him. "I know it looks like I abandoned Chris, but"

Before Leo could justify his actions, Victor cut in, "No buts, Leo. You've hardly spoken to the boy since his Mother died. You can try to make up as many excuses as you like to justify how you've treated him, but bottom line is you did abandon him when he needed you most. We all know you've had a special relationship with Wyatt; you always did right from day one. I've often thought about what young Chris did to deserve you treating him like you did. I thought maybe it was the other Chris, the one who came from the future that did it. You two never got along, and I thought maybe you couldn't get past that when Baby Chris was born."

"No, it had nothing to do with the other Chris…" Leo started to say, but Victor continued.

"I know it use to torment Piper when Chris was a child, how you never seemed to be able to make any time for him. We used to talk a lot about that." Victor said, frankly.

"I had no idea she used to talk to you about things like that." Leo said surprised.

"We were very close the last few years of her life. The Chris from the future warned me, you know. He warned me she was going to die when he was fourteen. But I wanted to believe the future had been changed…." His voice trailed off, as he began to have feelings of regret.

"We all did, Victor." Leo said to him, also with a hint of regret in his voice. Then, Leo had a thought, "you've never told this Chris about the other Chris, have you?" "No, of course not." He dismissed. "The last thing I want is for him to go travelling back in time again, just to end up like last time. I wasn't going to be the one to put that idea in his head." He paused. "We did talk about Wyatt, though."

"What do you mean, what did you tell him?" Leo asked.

"As little as I could, believe me. He wanted to know what could possibly have made Wyatt turn out this way. I told him there are so many things that could have affected Wyatt, like when he was attacked as a baby, was just one example." He explained.

"You told him about Gideon?" Leo clarified.

"No, of course I didn't. I was very general. I just told him that one possibility happened before Chris was even born. He just wanted comfort Leo. He seemed to be searching for someone to blame for how the world is today. To Chris that someone can be you, or a demon, or anyone except Wyatt. I think he still believes underneath Wyatt is good, and being his brother he just wants to hold onto that."

Leo nodded, and then an awkward silence fell on the room.

"Well I suppose you'll be wanting his address then," Victor said as he walked over to an old fashioned wooden desk by the window and opened the top drawer. He copied out Chris' address and handed it to Leo.

"Thank you," Leo said looking at the address then putting it in his pocket.

Victor continued to look at Leo, and then asked, "Why do you want to see him?"

Leo considered for a few seconds whether to confide in Victor, then thought he may as well, it wouldn't hurt to tell someone. "I've been having these disturbing dreams lately, well nightmares really. They don't make much sense, but I just feel something's wrong or something wrong is about to happen."

"With Chris?" Victor asked, now concerned.

"I don't know, but the one I had last night definitely had Chris in it. I just really want to make sure he's okay." Leo said.

"He won't want to see you, you know," Victor said honestly.

"I know," Leo conceded.

"Tell him his Grandpa says, hi." Victor said.

Leo nodded. "Thank you." He said and then a second later he orbed out.

Victor walked over to a photo he still had on a sideboard of Piper, Leo and the two boys. They were smiling and happy. He put his fingers out and touched the photo of his daughter, "In some ways I'm glad you're not here to witness all of this, Piper," he said to the photo. He carefully put the photo back in its place and then turned to continue reading one of his old books.


	17. Future Consequnces: Fragments Chapter T...

Leo looked around the neighbourhood he had orbed into. This was a part of town he'd never been to, and would be happy if he never returned to. There were burnt out cars and debris from damaged buildings on the streets all around him. People were sleeping down alleys, on seats, even just on the sidewalk. Some of them stopped what they were doing and stared at him, he could see the look of hopelessness on their faces and it haunted him. He knew he had deliberately turned a blind eye to what he was witnessing by living wrapped up in a cocoon carefully constructed by Wyatt, because he had never wanted to face the reality of what Wyatt had caused. That was not today's problem, however, he was here to find Chris and that was what he was going to do.

He looked at all the buildings around him and located the one that matched the address Victor had given him, and orbed into one of the corridors. Sure enough, there were people lying in there as well. He stepped over maybe thirty people before he arrived at the numbered door he was looking for. He lifted his hand to knock, then hesitated, deciding instead to orb directly into the apartment. He rematerialised in the small one room apartment, ready to face Chris or follow him if that were necessary, but Chris wasn't there. He looked around and couldn't believe his son was living this way. The room was incredibly small, just a mattress on the floor, some drawers, a sink, and a toilet and shower. The whole room was about the size the office had been at P3. He was suddenly overcome with sadness. How did things turn out this way? It wasn't as if he hadn't been warned. Chris had come from the future and told him that Wyatt would be evil, Piper would die when he was fourteen, and that he would grow up neglecting Chris. He had promised Chris on his deathbed, after Gideon had stabbed him, that he wouldn't give up. Promised him that the future would be different, yet here he was, everything exactly as Chris had described. His train of thought was suddenly broken as he heard someone orbing into the apartment. To Leo's surprise it was Chris and Bianca, and they were kissing. He couldn't believe those two had hooked up again. It seems that nothing had changed at all from Chris' original timeline. He had to be careful not to appear to recognise Bianca.

"Chris," Leo called as calmly as he could.

Chris, whose mind had been elsewhere, was so startled he instinctively moved his hand in the direction of Leo, sending him flying telekinetically into the wall behind him. When realising who he'd just thrown across the room, Chris didn't offer to help him, he just looked very annoyed

"You'd better go." He said to Bianca, while his Dad was trying to recover.

She shimmered out.

"How dare you break into my home!" Chris yelled angrily.

Leo, still struggling to get up from the floor, started to explain, "Chris, I know…"

"Get out of here. I don't have anything to say to you." Chris said firmly, not taking his eyes off his now standing Father.

"Chris, I just wanted to check that you were okay," Leo said very quickly, hoping that Chris wouldn't cut him off again.

Chris laughed, a little too loud. "That's very funny Dad. No really, it's hysterical. Now you've had your little joke, go running back to Wyatt and leave me alone."

"I'm not leaving until you hear me out, Chris. And if you orb I'll either stop you or follow you until you have listened to me. You know I can do that." Leo said calmly trying to reason with him.

"Grandpa says, hi." Leo added.

"What's Grandpa got to do with this, he's okay isn't he?" Chris asked, suddenly concerned.

"He's fine. He gave me your address." Leo explained.

Leo read Chris' thoughts, "Don't blame your Grandfather, I would have tracked you down anyway, it just would have taken longer. He told me because he cares about you."

"You don't have to tell me that," Chris said bitterly.

Now resigned to the fact that he would have to listen to what his Father had come here to say, Chris said, "Okay, fine, tell me. I'm listening. Then get the hell out of my life."

With every word Chris was saying, Leo could feel a little bit more of his soul die. Not because of what Chris was actually saying, but because he knew he deserved every ounce of bitterness Chris was throwing at him, and that hurt him more than anything Chris could say.

"I've been having these dreams, or nightmares really," Leo started to explain.

Chris listened in silence and with obvious disinterest.

Leo battled on, "Anyway, these dreams have something to do with you, I'm not sure how. It's as if someone's trying to send me a message, but it's all mixed up. I've never experienced anything like it before and it's happened every night this week. Last night's was the strongest and I know you were part of it. I can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen, or something is very wrong. It's just difficult to explain."

"You done?" Chris asked.

"Chris, please, I'm really worried about this. I need you to tell me that you're okay. That you're not planning to do anything stupid." Leo begged him.

Chris lost his patience.

"Dad, are you blind? Look around you. Look at how I live, where I live. Look at the state of this city, at the world. Wyatt has done this, my own brother has done all of this, and you helped him. People are dying every day because of him, and you don't seem to care. How can you ask me seriously if everything is okay? No, everything is not okay. I hate my life, I hate Wyatt and I hate you. The one thing I'm grateful for is that Mum is not here to see what Wyatt has become, and how you helped him."

Leo felt like he'd been punched in the stomach with what Chris was saying.

"It's a lot more complicated than you know, and your Mother understood that." Leo said in his defence.

"It doesn't change how I feel, now if you've finished, please leave. And don't bother ever coming back. You'll never be able to make up for a lifetime of no shows and apology letters, so don't even try. I don't know you at all, and you certainly don't know me. And I want it to stay that way."

Leo could see he was fighting a losing battle. "Okay, I'm going, but please remember what I said about the dreams and if you can think of anything that might be connected, let your Grandfather know. He'll tell me."

Chris didn't answer.

Leo said, "I'm sorry," before orbing out.

Chris was only alone for a few seconds before Bianca shimmered in.

"You, okay, baby?" She asked him.

Chris didn't answer her question, instead he asked one of his own, "Why would he come here tonight of all nights? I have not seen the guy for more than two years and he chooses tonight to show up and get all sentimental on me." Chris said, exasperated.

"I don't know." Bianca answered, pondering. Then she continued, "Do you think, maybe Wyatt has found out somehow what you're planning to do and has sent your Dad to investigate?"

"I don't know what to think. It's just so strange that he would show up like that. He really seemed spooked by something, he seemed genuine." Chris let out a heavy sigh and walked over to the window and looked through the thick metal security bars to the street below. "I do know, I'm their only hope to change all of this," he said quietly, and then turned to look back at Bianca. "If Wyatt had any idea about our plans he would have come himself, and I would not be alive to have this conversation." Chris said frankly. He walked back over to Bianca, put his arms around and held her close, "We go ahead with everything as planned. Nothing's changed. Tomorrow I travel back to the past to save Wyatt," he said relieved to have finally decided not to worry anymore about his Father's unexpected visit. He moved slightly back from Bianca, looking down at her and putting his hand gently on her cheek, "So that would still make tonight our last night together. Now where were we?" He said leaning down to kiss her.


	18. Future Consequences: Fragments Chpter T...

The frustration was overwhelming as he watched his first opportunity wasted. For one moment there, he thought his message may have been heard, but that was not to be. His patience was now going to be tested as all he could do was wait for the next opportunity to present itself or he remained doomed to spend eternity in the void he had been sent to as a result of the paradox; just as the world would continue living the same years over and over again, unless he could somehow break it, somehow get a message out. He had to keep trying.

And so this timeline continued, and Chris returned to save Wyatt, not knowing his quest was destined to end tragically. They were all completely unaware they had lived through this before. Many times. Chris arrived from the future and helped saved Paige and the world from the Titans. As a result his Father became an Elder, which allowed Chris to become The Charmed Ones' new Whitelighter. His plan had worked perfectly and now he could set about trying to find the demon that had turned Wyatt evil. One thing Chris hadn't counted on was, in splitting his parents up, he nearly prevented his own conception. Once that was overcome, there was nothing to stop him tracking down the demon he was looking for. Finally after everyone agreed that the demon reality game show hosts were the culprits they'd been searching for, it was time for Chris to return to his new future. Nothing changed, not one detail was different. Everything remained the same, until one day when Chris was visiting his Mum at Magic School.

Piper was sitting at a desk in her room, perusing some time travel books she had borrowed from the extensive library at her temporary place of residence. Her oldest son, Wyatt, was playing happily in the playpen next to her, and the adult version of her not yet born younger son, Chris, was quietly sitting on her bed also reading one of her borrowed time travel books. She stopped reading for a moment and looked at Chris. She liked how frequent his visits had become lately. She knew from information her Father had told her that in Chris' original future she would die young, so she could understand Chris wanting to make the most of their time together, before returning back to the unknown future he had created. Chris had no idea whether he had been able to change her future as well, and the prospect of returning to a better future, but still one without her was obviously something he didn't want to think about, nor to her frustration, talk about. Piper had often tried to imagine the future Chris had come from, but his reluctance to give out any information at all had made it difficult. She knew Wyatt had been evil, and that Chris had been engaged to marry the Phoenix Witch, Bianca. She knew Leo hadn't been a part of Chris' life at all it seems, and that Chris seemed to hate him for it. And she also knew that she had died when he was young. It pained her to think about the life Chris had lived with no Father around, a dead Mother, and an evil brother. It was ironic that the person he seemed closest to was her Father, who had never been around when she was a child.

After spending nearly two years with them, he was only just starting to let a little of his guard down around them, especially her. She still couldn't believe how he'd managed to fool them all for so long, never once letting on that he was their son. Not even when facing imminent death when Bianca came to visit and dragged him back to the future with her. That was another thing he wouldn't talk about. He refused to tell them who he had been fighting with in the future. At the time they hadn't been aware that Wyatt was the evil he had come back to stop. That was just another secret he had kept from them. Since then, when she had asked him straight out if it was Wyatt, he refused to answer, saying it was not important.

"Mum, can you hear me?" Chris said waving a hand in front of her face.

Piper jumped, not realising she had been so deep in thought she hadn't noticed that Chris had moved in front of her.

"Sorry, she said," smiling at him, "I was just thinking."

"You were miles away, I've called out to you at least three times." Chris told her.

"What did you want?" She asked him.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking of everything that's happened since you've been here. And how much I'm going to miss you." She said honestly.

Chris smiled, slightly embarrassed, but grateful for the comment. "I can't believe it's all over." He said, sighing. "I can't believe we actually did it. We saved Wyatt, and I'll be going back to a better future in a couple of days."

"If we can get the spell right, I'm not sending you back unless we know for sure." Piper said firmly.

"Between you, the girls, Dad and Gideon, I'm sure you'll work it out." Chris said confidently.

"Talking about your Dad," Piper said.

"Mentioning his name is not talking about him," Chris said, dismissively.

"All I wanted to say," she said cautiously, "was that you two seem better lately."

Chris nodded, "We are," he confirmed.

Piper waited for him to continue, but of course he didn't.

"Can you give me a little more, Chris?" She asked, frustrated.

Chris shrugged his shoulders defiantly, "I don't know what else you want to know, Mum." He said.

"Anything, Chris. Don't be afraid to open up a little. I know you've been used to keeping everything bottled up inside you, but you'll be gone in a couple of days, so just tell me a little more about you, and your life. These last two years, it's always been about Wyatt. I just want to know more about you." She said to him.

"Wow, where'd that come from?" He asked her.

"It's just so frustrating not knowing much about you." She answered. "And I feel like a beached whale at the moment, and I'm not sleeping well either."

"Okay, okay," Chris said thinking for a minute. "Let's see, before I came here I hadn't seen Dad for more than two years, except for the night before when he paid me a strange visit." He remembered, then continued, "I was engaged to Bianca…"

Piper cut in, "I know all that stuff, Chris, I want to know things like, do you work? If so where? Where do you live? In the Manor? Your hobbies? Just general stuff."

Chris sighed, "Mum, my future was not like it is here. No, I didn't work. Wyatt wanted me to work for him, but I refused. I moved around a lot, never stayed in one place too long, it was too dangerous. Hobbies? My hobby was to try to stay alive each day." He said, completely seriously.

"Oh, Chris." Piper started to say, but Chris interrupted her.

"But, that's all changed now, so there's no sense in talking about it. Why aren't you sleeping well? Is it just being pregnant?" Chris asked, trying to change the subject.

"I see what you're doing," Piper said to him, "Okay, fine we'll drop it, for now. Yes it's the pregnancy, but I've also been having these really vivid dreams for the last couple of nights. I don't know, I'm probably just worried about you going back to the future." Piper told him.

"That's not good, you need your rest," Chris said.

'I'll be fine, you just look after yourself, okay?" Piper said, genuinely worried about him.

"Don't worry about me, I've always been able to take care of myself," he reassured her. "I suppose I'd better go and check on how everyone else is doing," Chris said standing up.

Piper went to stand also, "No, don't get up," he said walking over to her. "I'll drop by again tonight. Bye." Chris said as he bent down and kissed his Mum on the cheek.

"Bye, honey," she replied as he orbed out.

Chris orbed into the attic a few seconds later and found his Dad and Phoebe deep in discussion.

"Sorry to interrupt." He said to them as he walked over to the Book of Shadows.

"No problem." Phoebe assured him, "How's Piper?" She asked.

"She's fine, although pretty fed up I think. It's really weird to watch her go through all of this just for me. It's just not right to watch your own pregnancy." Chris said. "Oh, and she said she hasn't been sleeping well, Dad, she's been having bad dreams or something. Maybe you could help her with that?" Chris asked him.

"Bad dreams? Did she say what kind of bad dreams?" Leo asked his son.

"No," Chris said thinking back to their conversation. "She didn't say."

"Well, that's a coincidence." Phoebe said.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

"I was just telling Phoebe I've been having these really disturbing dreams the last few nights." Leo explained. "Like nothing I've ever experienced before. Like someone's trying to send me a message or something, I don't know. It's a shamePhoebe doesn't have her powers or she may have been able to sense something." Leo said, but Chris' mind was obviously elsewhere.

"Chris, did you hear me?" He asked him.

"Yes, sorry, I was just thinking about something." Chris tried to explain.

Leo looked annoyed at how rude Chris had been, "If you didn't want to listen to my answer then why did you ask me?"

"No, I was listening, believe me," Chris said honestly, "It's just that, what you said reminded me of something."

"Of what?" Both Leo and Phoebe asked at once.

"I don't know whether I should say, it happened in the future." He said.

"Chris, that future's been changed now anyway, just tell us." Leo said, frustrated.

"I suppose you're right," Chris agreed as he walked toward them. "The night before I left, you came to visit me Dad. Now that may sound normal, but I hadn't seen you in over two years and to choose that night to visit me, well, the timing was very strange."

"I was probably worried about your time travel plans," Leo suggested.

"No, that wasn't it," Chris said, not wanting to tell his Dad that he hadn't confided in him. "The reason you came to visit was to tell me about these strange dreams you had been having. The words you used then to describe them were almost exactly the same as the words you used just now."

"Wow, that is weird." Phoebe commented. "Coincidence?" She suggested.

"I don't know," Leo said, as he still pondered what Chris had just told them. "So what you're saying," Leo said attempting to clarify, "is one night before your time travelled back here, I told you I had bad dreams. Now in this time, two days before you're due to time travel back to the future I'm having bad dreams again."

"Yes, and Mum is too," Chris added.

"Did she have dreams in the future as well?" Leo asked.

"No," was all Chris said, not wanting to go into the reasons why. It was obvious his Mum hadn't told his Dad about her dying young, and Chris was happy to leave that up to her.

"Well, I think we should have a family meeting and discuss this." Leo concluded.

"Agreed," Phoebe said nodding.

"Okay," Chris agreed.

"Phoebe, you go downstairs and get Paige, and we'll meet you at Magic School," Leo said.

With a plan decided, Phoebe headed downstairs as Chris and Leo orbed to Magic School.


	19. Future Consequences: Fragments Chapter ...

Phoebe, Paige, Leo and Chris all waited patiently for Piper to join them in the Great Hall of Magic School, the same area they had gathered only recently to celebrate finally saving Wyatt.

"So what's this all about?" Paige asked to anyone willing to shed light on why they were meeting.

"Phoebe didn't tell you?" Leo asked.

"I thought we'd just all tell her together." Phoebe cut in before Paige could answer.

"Why the mystery?" Paige asked again, starting to get really curious.

"There's no mystery, it's just…" Chris started to say, but was interrupted by Piper.

"Wyatt's in the nursery," she said as she waddled in the room. "Okay, what's going on?"

"That's what I've been asking." Paige said, raising her eyebrows in frustration.

"It's probably nothing," Leo started to say, "but Chris told Phoebe and I about the dreams you've been having, Piper."

"Yes. So?" She said, looking around at everyone. "It's not unusual to have bad dreams, especially when you're nearly nine months pregnant."

"I know, but I've been having bad dreams as well," Leo said, and then corrected himself. "Actually, I wouldn't call them bad dreams, they are more like someone is trying to send me a message or something. It's really hard to explain, they are like nothing I've ever experienced before. Is that what yours are like?" He asked Piper.

"I hadn't really thought about it," she said, "we've had so much going on lately, I just thought it was because there was a lot on my mind. You know how dreams get all mixed up and don't make any sense."

"Well can you think about it now, please Mum," Chris asked her.

"You really think these dreams mean something, is that why we're gathered here?" She asked Leo.

"Honestly, I don't know, and yes that's why we're here." Leo answered.

"Don't we have enough going on in our lives already? Do we have to go looking for something else to worry about?" She asked, exasperated.

"It's the timing more than anything, Mum," Chris started to explain. "Just before I came back from the future the Leo in the future came to see me to tell me about these strange dreams he'd been having. He also said he felt like someone was trying to send him a message. That was the day before I travelled back in time, and now before I'm due to travel in time again, this Leo tells me the exact same thing."

"That is strange." Paige agreed.

"Yes it is a coincidence," Piper said realising this conversation was not going away anytime soon. "Did I have these dreams in…" Piper started to ask, but then stopped when she realised it was impossible for her to have dreams in the future if she had already died.

"No you didn't," Leo answered, anticipating the rest of her question, "I already asked Chris that question."

Chris and Piper shared a look, knowing without saying anything that they would keep that information their secret.

"Can you describe to me what your dreams are like?" Leo asked her.

"Okay fine," she said, and then closed her eyes, but immediately opened them again. "You know, I thought a few normal days before I gave birth wasn't too much to ask," she said and then closed her eyes again. Two seconds later she opened them again, "After all we've been through, a few normal days! That's all!"

"Piper, I'm sorry, but…" Leo started to say, but Piper interrupted.

"I know, I know, you think it's important." Piper said looking at him.

Leo nodded and she closed her eyes again. This time everyone remained silent, waiting to see if she would continue her protests, but she didn't this time. Instead you could see in Piper's face she was trying to picture what she had seen in her dreams.

"Dark figures, lots of dark figures and they're moving in circles I think?" She tried to describe. Suddenly she opened her eyes, startled.

"What is it?" Phoebe asked her.

"I'd forgotten until just then. I saw The Source." Piper said.

"Who's The Source?" Chris asked, perplexed.

"Way before your time, honey," Piper told him.

"Thank goodness!" Phoebe added.

"Yes, okay, but who is he?" Chris asked again.

"He was the Demon of all Demons. Head of the Underworld. The Epitome of Evil." Leo described.

"Okay, Dad, I get it, he was one of the bad guys." Chris said cutting off Leo's long list of descriptions. "What happened to him?"

"We vanquished his sorry ass." Paige said, proudly.

"Well, if he's been vanquished then why would you dream about him? Is he still a threat in any way?" Chris asked.

"No, I don't think so." Piper answered, not completely sure.

"No, he's not a threat anymore, but maybe you seeing him symbolises something." Leo suggested.

"Maybe," Piper agreed and then asked Leo, "What about your dreams, what are they like?"

"Similar, actually." Leo said. "Mine had the dark figures as well, and they were moving in a circle, or maybe more of an oval. No Source, but there was a Darklighter in there and I think Gideon appeared somewhere." He said trying to remember.

"Ooh, mine had Gideon too. I don't exactly remember how, but I do remember seeing him there." Piper said suddenly. "Probably because I see him so much around here, and we've had so much to do with him lately, he's just stuck in my subconscious."

"I don't know, you've both dreamt about Gideon, and you've both dreamt about your biggest threat. Piper yours was The Source and Leo, yours is of course a Darklighter. There does seem to be a message in there somewhere."

"What, you think that maybe Gideon is in danger?" Paige suggested.

"Maybe there is an evil after Gideon?" Phoebe went further to suggest.

"I don't know?" Piper said not convinced. "That doesn't feel right."

"I don't know either," Leo said, "But it won't hurt to warn him, just in case."

"Why don't we wait until tomorrow, see if we have the dreams again tonight." Piper suggested.

Leo thought about that for a few seconds. "Okay, we'll wait until tomorrow. I'll meet you here for breakfast."

Piper smiled, "That'd be nice, and Chris you come too. It would be nice for this family to have a meal together, even if it is just breakfast." She looked at him and as he was about to open his mouth to answer she added, "Don't you dare tell me no. For any reason."

The look on Chris' face was one of familiarity. He knew that tone in his Mother's voice, and he knew there was no sense objecting.

"I wasn't going to say no, honest." He said.

Piper looked at him suspiciously, then smiled. "Great that's all settled then." She said.

"Just one question I want to ask before we finish," Chris said before anyone could stand. "If the dreams that you both had meant that an evil was after Gideon, then why did Future Leo have them? There was no Gideon in the future?"

"Good question." Phoebe said.

"We'll wait to see what happens tonight, and we'll discuss it tomorrow, because I've really got to pee," Piper said, as she very awkwardly tried to stand.

Chris and Leo immediately put their hands out to help her up.

She gratefully took both of them.

"Thanks, boys," she said and then rather urgently waddled toward the door.

"It's getting late, I'll see you guys tomorrow," Chris said as he orbed out.

"Did you two want to come to breakfast?" Leo asked both Paige and Phoebe.

"No, I think it should just be the four of you. Probably the last time you'll get to be a family together before we send Chris back to the future." Phoebe said, sadly.

"You're right," Leo agreed.

"How are you two getting along now?" Phoebe asked.

"Better, I think. It's hard when he just won't open up. Every time I try to talk to him he gives me a one-word answer and leaves. It's very frustrating." Leo said, a little despondent. "It's still hard to wrap my head around how I've treated him, or am going to treat him. It just doesn't make any sense, I'm not like that."

"No, you're not, we all know that, but obviously Chris has only ever known the other version of you." Paige said, trying to console him.

"That's just it, Paige, the other version of me, IS me. I wonder what happens to make me be the person he has described?" Leo asked.

"Hopefully that's all changed now, anyway." Phoebe suggested.

"How are you coming with the spell?" Leo asked them.

"It's a tough one. The wording has to be perfect. I'm going to meet with Gideon tomorrow and go through it with him." Paige said.

"The spell does worry me. I might stay here for a little while and do a bit of reading about the spell and the potion. I'll see you in the morning." Leo told them.

"Okay, don't stay too late. Paige will you give me a lift?" Phoebe asked.

"No problem. 'Night Leo." Paige said.

"Night." Leo said to both of them as they orbed out.

Leo turned to the pile of time travel books that had been left on a nearby desk. He walked over to them looking at the different titles. But he wasn't really reading them, because he was thinking about Chris' journey back to the future and how worried he was about him making it safely. He'd spent most of the time Chris had been with them suspicious of him, and as a result being really hard on him. Chris had taken it all, though, never once breaking down or giving any hint that he was Leo's son. He certainly was a tough kid, Leo had to give him that. Leo had been sure Chris was the one who sent him to Valhalla, and he still was now, especially because he knew how much Chris hated him in the future. He didn't care anymore if it was Chris, that was not important to him. The most important thing to him at the moment was getting Chris back to his own time safely. He was beginning to think the only way he would be completely sure of that was if he was to go too. Just for a little while to make sure that Chris was okay, and hopefully also make sure that he had changed. It would be a great relief to know for sure that whatever had made him the Leo from Chris' future had not happened this time. He realised as he sat at the desk that he had made up his mind to go with Chris. Now all he had to do was figure out a way to tell Piper.


	20. Future Consequences: Fragments Chapter ...

"Chris! Leo!" Piper called out as she placed the last plates of food on the table. Seconds later Chris orbed in.

"Where are we?" Chris asked as he looked around the room.

"This is Gideon's private Dining Room. He kindly let me use it this morning, now sit down and eat up." Piper told him.

Chris then noticed the table full of food. "Wow, Mum, when you said breakfast, I thought you meant maybe a piece of toast and a bowl of cereal!" Chris said, surprised at the feast that lay before him.

On the table was a selection of eggs, bacon, hash browns, pancakes, waffles, toast, cereal and fruit.

"I wasn't sure what you liked, so I just thought I'd make a selection of everything," Piper said, smiling.

As Chris moved to sit at the table next to his brother who was in his highchair, Leo orbed in.

"Wow!" Leo said, also, as soon as he saw all the food on the table.

"I don't know what the big deal is?" Piper asked starting to get a little annoyed at their reaction. "So, I just cooked a selection of things for breakfast. I wasn't sure what everyone wanted."

"No big deal," Leo dismissed immediately, sensing Piper's annoyance.

"Everything looks great, and I'm starving." He said as he moved to sit the other side of Wyatt.

"Really, Mum, this is great, and I can't believe you cooked it all yourself this morning. You must have gotten up really early, thanks." Chris agreed.

Piper sat down in between Chris and Leo, "Okay then, dig in." She said passing them each a plate. "I was up early anyway, I couldn't sleep again," Piper said as she watched Chris and Leo fill their plates with a variety of food from the table.

Leo put his plate down as he asked her, "You had more dreams again, too?"

She nodded, and then added, "So, I take it you did as well."

Chris had been busy constructing a large bacon and egg toasted sandwich, and was just squeezing some tomato ketchup on it when he asked his parents, "Were the dreams the same as last time? Was there anything new?"

When he was finished with the ketchup he put it back on the table and noticed both Leo and Piper staring at him. "What?" He asked.

They smiled, both slightly embarrassed at being caught out staring at their son. "Nothing, I'm just waiting to see how you're going to pick that sandwich up, let alone eat it." Leo explained with a laugh.

"It's not that big!" Chris said defensively.

"I'm just glad to see you're enjoying the breakfast." Piper added.

"Thank you, Mum, I am. Very much." Chris said gratefully. "I cannot tell you the last time I had a cooked breakfast like this." He said as he managed to take a big bite of his sandwich.

"It's something we should have done a lot more of while you were here, Chris. I'm sorry we didn't think of it before." Piper said to him.

Chris just shook his head pointing to his mouth, indicating he could not answer because it was stuffed with food.

She nodded at Chris as she started to get a bowl of cereal ready for Wyatt.

Leo had already started eating his breakfast when he decided to answer Chris, "As to your question, Chris, my dreams were almost exactly the same as I described, only stronger." Leo started to explain in between bites of food. "Lots of dark figures moving in circles, Gideon and a Darklighter. Still didn't make any sense, and there was nothing new."

"Same here," Piper said as she now started to fill a plate for herself. "This time, of course, I was more aware so I remember it more clearly, but everything was the same as Leo just described, except instead of a Darklighter there was The Source."

"Are you still going to warn Gideon?" Chris asked, before he took another bite of his sandwich.

"I think we should. Nothing else makes any sense." Leo answered.

"I've been thinking about that a lot this morning," Piper said, as she picked at the food on her plate, "If someone is trying to send us a message, I can't think of what else it would be. Gideon has done so much for all of us, we should definitely tell him about the dreams, even if we've interpreted them wrongly."

"So you both think it's a coincidence that you've had these dreams before I'm due to time travel again?" Chris asked them as he took the last bite of his sandwich.

"There's nothing in the dreams to connect it to your time travelling. Only the timing of them." Leo concluded.

"True, but what about Future Leo? His dreams couldn't have been about Gideon." Chris questioned.

"No, I honestly don't know what the connection is there." Leo answered, and then continued, "I think the best thing is to get you home safely to your own time, maybe even move it forward to today."

"Today!" Both Chris and Piper said at the same time.

"Why not?" Leo asked them. "I'm worried about all of this, I just want Chris home and safe." He of course stopped short in telling Piper that he intended to go with him, deciding to face that later.

"What about the potion or the spell?" Piper asked him.

"I will work on that with Gideon, and I'll get Paige to help." Leo said.

"I'll help too," Chris said as he poured syrup over a pile of pancakes he had just piled onto his plate.

"It's decided then." Leo stated.

"Only if we are sure the potion or spell will work." Piper said.

"Agreed," Leo said, and then they both looked at Chris, who only nodded because his mouth was full of pancakes.

They both smiled again.

"I'm so glad we were able to have this breakfast together," Piper said as she broke up some pancakes on a plate for Wyatt to eat. "I didn't think it would be your farewell breakfast, though, Chris," she said sadly.

"Neither did I." Chris said not really knowing what else to say.

"There's so much more I wanted to say to you. How can we ever thank you for what you've done?" Piper said to Chris.

Chris had now finished his plate of pancakes and was sitting back in his chair feeling very full.

"You don't have to thank me, Mum. I'm just happy and relieved it all worked out in the end. I really didn't think I would be here this long or it was going to be this difficult to find the demons that turned Wyatt." Chris explained.

"You risked so much just by coming here, Chris. Even your own existence!" Leo added.

"That, I hadn't thought through completely!" Chris admitted. "I really thought I was done for, I couldn't see any way of getting the two of you back together."

"I guess you were just meant to be." Piper said as she looked at Leo and smiled.

"Yes, but also I think you two are meant to be together." Chris said firmly.

"Yet you were the one who split us up in the first place." Leo challenged him.

"I know you'd like to blame me, but truth is you guys split up for a while in my time too when Dad became an Elder. But things worked out, and I'm living proof of that." Chris told them.

"I didn't know I became an Elder in your time as well," Leo said.

"Yes, well, even though the future's changed now, I still shouldn't be telling you too much, but yes, you did still become an Elder. What I did when I arrived just moved it forward a little, but it was always your destiny." Chris explained.

"So that's why I wasn't there for you, because I was an Elder." Leo concluded.

"That was part of the reason, but I really don't want to get into that again." Chris said, immediately putting his protective walls up around himself again, not realising he'd dropped them in the relaxed family atmosphere he wasn't used to.

"I just want to make sure I don't make the same mistake again, Chris, that's all. Anything you can tell me would be appreciated." Leo asked him gently, hoping he'd go back to the relaxed Chris who'd just started opening up to them.

"We're your family, Chris, there's no need to be afraid to talk to us, about anything." Piper added.

"I know, Mum, and I appreciate what you're saying," he said, and then paused seemingly deciding whether to continue or not. He looked at both of them looking back at him, eagerly waiting for him to say something. "It's just not as easy as that. Dad, you did become an Elder and did spend a lot of time "up there", but you always seemed to be able to make time for anything to do with Wyatt. Anything to do with me, though, was another story."

"He must have done something for you Chris." Piper suggested.

"No, sorry," Chris replied shaking his head, "I can honestly say that I can never remember Dad ever coming to see me at school in anything, or watch me play sport. He never even made it to any of my birthdays that I can think of."

"Not even your birthdays?" Leo asked incredulously.

"That just doesn't sound like you," Piper said to Leo.

"You know, if you'd said that to me when I first got here, I would have disputed that, but now I've gotten to know you better, I tend to agree." Chris said to both his parents. "The Leo I knew growing up and the one sitting in front of me now, seem like two different people. I always thought I was the reason you were never around. Maybe I did something or said something that made you not like to be with me." Chris explained, now not making eye contact with his parents but staring down at the glass of juice he was holding.

"Oh, Chris it could never be you," Piper reassured him.

"No, Chris, don't ever think that," Leo said firmly to him.

Chris looked at both of them and smiled, "The point I'm trying to make is I'm beginning to think that maybe something did happen to change you. I don't know what, but I'm hoping it had something to do with Wyatt being saved so it won't happen again this time."

"It won't happen again, I promise you that, Chris," Leo said sincerely.

"And I'll make sure it doesn't happen again as well," Piper promised.

"I'm so glad we had this breakfast and this time together as a family. I'll always remember this day," Piper said.

"It was a great idea Piper, thank you." Leo said to her, "but we'd better get working on that potion, if we're going to send you back to that better future later today." Leo said as he started to get up from the table.

Chris also started to rise, "I'll help you Dad," he said as he walked over to Piper. To her surprise he bent down to hug her, "Thank you, Mum, this has been really nice." He said as he hugged her warmly. This was the first sign of physical closeness Chris had shown her since she'd found out she was his Mum and she relished every second of it.

"I'm glad you both enjoyed it," she said to them, as Chris pulled away.

"We'll drop in to see Gideon first, then we'll be out in the Library working on the potion," Leo said, and then turned to walk to the door.

"Okay, I'll catch you later," Piper said as she watched them both walk out the room. She turned to Wyatt still sitting quietly in his highchair munching on the bits of fruit she'd given him after he'd finished the pancakes.

"Well I hope you're planning on doing the dishes, because I'm certainly not doing them," she said to him as she collapsed in a chair. "What a perfect morning," she mumbled to herself as she put her feet up on another chair and just enjoyed the peace and quiet for a few moments.


	21. Future Consequences: Fragments Chapter ...

From his void he knew he had come close to reaching them. He knew his messages were getting through, they just weren't able to interpret them correctly. Sending them images of Gideon with their own greatest threat he thought would help them understand Gideon's true intentions. He didn't realise how well Gideon had hidden those intentions, so well in fact that he was completely trusted by all of them.

From his void he continued to watch, or more accurately sense the effects of his messages. Chris went through a portal that day with Leo but it did not lead to the future as they had intended, instead it led to the alternate universe where the Charmed ones were evil and Barbas was the demon of hope He knew that this was exactly what Gideon had intended; only because he had seen this entire sequence of events play out before. And not just once. Over, and over, and over again. He was desperate for some change, not just in an attempt to break the world from this time loop, but also to free him from this void of boredom and monotony that he was imprisoned in. And this is why, when Chris and Leo went through the portal to the evil world, as they had done every other time, he was swept with a wave of disappointment and exhaustion. He knew he had failed in his attempt to break free from the loop, and that meant he would need to wait until the next opportunity presented itself to make another attempt.

He watched as, in Leo and Chris' attempt to escape from Evil World, they changed the balance between good and evil, changing the world into a Smiley World where everyone was a little _too_ happy. The time before Piper gave birth to Baby Chris was chaotic, frightening and tragic. While Piper was fighting in hospital to save her own life and that of her unborn son, Leo was also desperately fighting to save the life of both Big Chris and Wyatt, because of Gideon. Not everyone would survive that day, and it was Chris who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Leo kept his promise and made sure he was there for Chris, creating a much happier life for him this time. As time progressed Wyatt was given Excalibur by mistake and used it for several years. By the time Leo and the other Elders realised it was meant for Chris, Wyatt had been corrupted by the Magical Sword and getting it back was all that mattered to him. As a result he became an outcast. When Phoebe, through her visions, discovered that Chris was still destined to die at the same age as the other Chris, Wyatt had decided to bide his time and wait until Chris was no longer in the way for him to claim Excalibur.

And so this timeline moved along. Patiently he watched from his void waiting for another chance. Finally, a few months after the family dinner when Chris introduced his new girlfriend, Jeni to his parents, he saw an opening. A slim window of opportunity existed to finally break the time loop they all continued to exist in. He took that opportunity.

"No!" Piper and Leo screamed as they both sat up in bed at exactly the same time.

"What the hell was that?" Piper asked, still breathless from the nightmare.

"Did you have a dream, too, or did I just wake you?" Leo asked, also catching his breath.

"No, I had a dream all right. Actually it was more like a nightmare. But why did we have it at the same time, now that is weird." She said to him as she reached over and turned the light on next to her side of the bed.

"You okay?" Leo asked her as he rubbed her gently on the back.

"Yes, I am now, but did that dream seem familiar to you?" Piper asked.

Leo thought for a few seconds before he remembered as well.

"Back before Gideon hurt Chris, we both had dreams. I remember now."

"Yes, and we all talked about it. We had a family meeting if my memory is correct." Piper said, and then added, "And the family breakfast the next day. Just our little family," she remembered fondly. "That was a good morning, do you remember how Chris started to open up to us a little?"

Leo smiled at the memory, "Of course I do," he said.

"So what are these dreams meant to be telling us now. And why would we be having them so long after the other ones? This just doesn't make any sense." Piper said, frustrated.

"Well, we don't know what the first message was to the other Leo, but we do know that the second message was telling us about Gideon being evil. We worked that out in hindsight." Leo summarised.

"What did you see in your dreams?" Leo asked.

"Very similar to before, I think. There were a lot of figures moving in circles and I think Wyatt was in there somehow with Excalibur maybe? Like all dreams, it was very mixed up." Piper tried to explain.

"My dream sounded almost identical to that, but there is one thing that worries me," Leo said.

"And what's that?" Piper asked him.

"The timing of the dreams. Remember Chris said the first dreams came the day before he was due to travel back in time. The second dreams also came the day before Chris was due to travel back in time, except we know that never eventuated." Leo explained.

"So you're worried that Chris might be planning a trip back in time again?" Piper surmised.

"Well it's hard to ignore the timing of the other dreams." Leo said.

Piper thought about what Leo had just said, and then all of a sudden jumped out of bed.

"What are you doing?" Leo wondered.

"We've got to stop him, come on, get up and get dressed!" She demanded.

"Piper it's five in the morning, we can't go over to Chris' place now." Leo tried to reason.

"You're right," she conceded. "We'll wait till seven, it's a work day, he should be up by then."

Leo sighed, but agreed, "Okay, we'll go over at seven."

When she continued to put her dressing gown on he asked, "Why don't you come back to bed?"

"There is no way I could sleep now, Leo, I'll go downstairs and cook some breakfast." She said as she headed toward the door.

Leo's mind immediately went back to the huge breakfast they had the last time Piper couldn't sleep with these dreams. "I'll just have some toast," he called to her as she disappeared out the door. And then reluctantly he got out of bed.

Two hours later Leo orbed himself and Piper outside the door to Chris' modest apartment he now shared with Jeni.

Piper went to knock on the door, but hesitated.

"What wrong?" Leo asked her.

"I was just thinking," Piper replied.

"Thinking what?" Leo asked.

"Well, I was just thinking what if we're….you know…..interrupting them." Piper finally got out.

"What do you mean inter……oh," Leo said suddenly understanding what Piper had meant.

"Don't you think we should have thought of that before!" Leo said, a bit too loud.

"Well, I didn't, so maybe we should go home and call first." She suggested.

Leo sighed. Heavily. "Piper, we're here now, let's just do this," he said as he lifted his hand to knock on the door.

"No wait!" She said holding on to Leo's hand to stop him from knocking.

Before Leo could ask Piper what she wanted to wait for, the door in front of them suddenly opened.

A very sleepy looking Chris appeared before them dressed only in boxer shorts.

"Mum, Dad, hi. Let me make it easier on you, how about you come inside and tell me why you woke me up this early." Chris said to them, as he turned to walk back into his apartment leaving the door open for them to follow him.

"And don't worry," he said to them, without turning around, "You didn't interrupt anything but us sleeping in after being up to three o'clock this morning marking exam papers from Magic School."

"You heard us?" Piper asked, horrified.

"Mum, our bedroom is the front window, of course we heard you." Chris said stating the obvious.

"I'm sorry, son, but what we want to talk to you about is pretty important," Leo justified.

"Don't worry about it," Chris said trying to stifle a laugh. "I guessed it must be important for you to come around at this time. So shoot."

"I'm just going to cut to the chase here, and I'll explain the question afterward. I want you to promise to answer honestly, no secrets okay?" Leo said firmly.

"Fine, I promise." Chris agreed.

"Are you planning to time travel at all in the next few days?" Leo asked him.

Chris had certainly not expected to be asked that question. "What!" He exclaimed, very surprised. "You're serious?" He checked.

"Completely!" Piper confirmed.

"No, absolutely not. No way am I planning on time travelling in any way shape or form in the next couple of days." Chris answered and could see the immediate relief on both his parents' faces. "Why?" He asked.

"It's a long story," Leo said.

"Well I'm up anyway, how about I put a T-shirt on and make us a coffee, and we'll sit down and you can tell me everything?" Chris asked them.

They decided to do just that. Leo and Piper explained to Chris how they had both had dreams just before the other Chris that had travelled from the future more than twenty years before was due to go through the time portal. They also told him about how the Leo from that Chris' original future had also had the dreams before that Chris went back in time. And finally how they had both had the dreams that night themselves once more, and were concerned it had something to do with him planning a trip through time.

Chris listened patiently to everything they had told him. "That is very confusing," he said, "but I think I understand what you're saying. So if these dreams don't have anything to do with the time travel, then what message do you think they are trying to tell you?"

"We have no idea!" Both Piper and Leo said at the same time, feeling very frustrated.

"That's if it is a message," Piper added, starting to doubt whether they were on the right track.

"What else could these dreams mean?" Chris asked.

"Maybe they're just dreams." Piper concluded.

Leo thought about that and then shook his head, "No, I don't believe that. There is definitely a reason why we've had these dreams at these exact times. And I still feel it is someone trying to communicate in some way."

"Okay, then who communicates through dreams?" Chris asked the logical next question.

"I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it," Piper answered him.

"Neither had I," Leo said, "We've been so busy trying to interpret the dreams, we haven't really thought about who would be trying to communicate to us through them."

Immediately Piper stood up, "Well, we'd better go and check the book of shadows." She said.

Leo and Chris stood up as well.

"Let me know if you find out anything," Chris said as he walked over to give his Mum a kiss goodbye.

"We will," Leo said.

"Bye honey, and thank you," Piper said before they both orbed out.

Chris looked at the time and considered going back to bed, but decided he'd better have a shower and get ready for work.


	22. Future Consequences: Fragments Chapter ...

Piper and Leo had spent most of the day discussing all the possibilities of who could be trying to contact them through their dreams. They had even called Phoebe over to try to shed some light on what was going on. Her premonition and empathic powers had grown considerably over the years, so it made sense that if someone were trying to contact them, she would be able to sense it.

"Sorry, nothing." Phoebe said after holding on to both of them and concentrating quietly for a few minutes.

"Nothing at all?" Piper asked.

"No, I'm really sorry." She answered sincerely.

"This is hopeless!" Piper exclaimed as she walked over to and then collapsed in a nearby couch.

"It may seem hopeless, but we can't give up yet." Leo said to them and then added, "I won't give up yet."

"Okay! Fine!" Piper said as she got up again and started pacing. "According to the Book of Shadows, the most likely thing to attempt to make contact through dreams is a ghost."

"Well, why don't we just try to summon it?" Phoebe suggested.

"Because we don't know which one to summon," Leo answered, "We've already thought of that," he added.

"Maybe we could try a general summoning spell?" Phoebe asked.

"Is there such a spell?" Piper questioned.

"Not that I know of, but I don't see any reason why we couldn't write one."

"You're right! Let's get to it." Piper said as she walked over to get a handy pad of paper and pen on a nearby table.

Suddenly Phoebe doubled up in pain holding her stomach, and at the same time a terrified look came over Leo's face.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Piper asked as she ran to Phoebe.

"It's Chris," Leo replied, breathless.

"He's in a lot of pain in his stomach," Phoebe said trying to compose herself. "It's begun."

The anguished expression on both their faces said it all and Piper immediately dropped the pad and pen she was holding and both she and Phoebe moved next to Leo, orbing out seconds later.

They arrived at Magic School to find Chris collapsed on the floor clutching his stomach, blood seeping onto his hands and fingers. Paige and Jeni were next to him and concerned students were standing all around.

All their efforts and concentration had now moved to saving Chris from the curse of the athame Gideon had used twenty-three years earlier. The idea of trying to summon the ghost had temporarily been forgotten. The day progressed as it had before. They were able to save Chris by bringing the Chris who died in the past to merge with this Chris and then by using the combined Power of Three with the Elders the curse was finally broken.

As Chris tried to sit up after being saved, Leo asked, "Are you sure you're feeling up to it?"

"I'm fine, Dad," Chris replied; now sitting upright. " I feel amazing! Thank you to everyone who helped. I cannot thank you enough; you've given me my life back. In fact," he said pausing for a moment, not really knowing how to put it into words, "you've given me two lives."

"What do you mean two lives?" Piper asked as she sat down on the couch next to her son.

"This is going to sound really weird, and I don't want you guys to freak out on me or anything, but the Chris that died in the past, he is now a part of me. I have all his memories now too." He paused to look at the reaction around the room. Everyone seemed to be trying to process what he had just said.

So you're telling us that the Chris that came from the future twenty-five years ago is now a part of you too," Leo said trying to understand.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Dad," Chris replied. "I remember everything. I remember Valhalla, Gith, Ginny the Jeanie, the Spider Demon, and Gideon. I even remember the breakfast you cooked for us Mum, the morning before we went through the portal to the evil world. And the dreams you both had the few nights before. I also remember the dreams the other Leo from my original future had before I came back in time the first time. I now understand your visit this morning and why you were so worried about the dreams. It all makes so much more sense now."

"How is this possible?" Leo asked the Elders.

Before they had a chance to answer, Chris continued, "Did you find out anything about the dreams today? Have you worked out who's sending them?"

"What dreams?" Paige asked.

One of the Elders cut in before anyone could answer Paige. "If we are not needed anymore, we will take our leave."

"Of course, thank you so much for everything," Leo said to them. They nodded in response and then all disappeared in a cloud of orbs.

After the Elders had gone Paige reminded everyone of her question.

"Dreams?"

"We didn't bother you because you were busy at Magic School, and then all of this with Chris happened, so we haven't had a chance, but Leo and I have had the same dreams again that we had twenty-three years ago." Piper explained. "Do you remember we all had a family meeting to discuss them the night before Chris and Leo went through the portal?"

Paige thought about it for a few seconds, and then nodded as she remembered, "Yes, I do. Didn't they have dark figures and circles or something like that?"

"Good memory." Leo complimented her, "Yes they did, and now they seem to have Wyatt in them as well."

"So you've been trying to work out what they mean all day," Paige clarified.

"Well if we'd gotten the message right last time, Leo and Chris would not have gone to the evil world!" Piper concluded.

"You're right!" Phoebe said excitedly.

"I know I'm right. So what?" Asked Piper.

"Well, we knew afterwards that the potion that we made would have worked. If we had known that Gideon was evil back then, Chris and Leo would have really gone to the future." Phoebe explained.

"Yes – so?" Paige asked.

"This future." Phoebe said. "They would have found out about Excalibur and when Leo went back he would have been able to stop Wyatt from ever using it, so everything would be different."

"And Wyatt would be truly saved." Chris said.

"Exactly!" Phoebe said.

"So whoever is sending us these messages through these dreams is either trying to save Wyatt or stop things from happening that shouldn't be happening for some reason." Leo said.

"We were about to write a spell to try to summon the ghost we think is sending us these messages, before Chris collapsed." Piper said.

"I think we should finish that spell and give it a try." Phoebe stated.

"Agreed," Piper said.

Paige nodded, and went over to get the pad of paper and pen she had picked up off the floor not long before to write the spell to merge the two Chris's together.

She ripped that spell off the pad and walked over to place it on the Book of Shadows, thinking it may come in handy some day, then set about writing this new spell.

Through our dreams you make contact  
Spirit from the other side  
Come to me, I summon the  
Cross now the great divide

She showed the spell to Piper and Phoebe.

"You only changed one line," Piper noticed.

"Yes, but it was an important one," Paige defended.

"It's fine," Phoebe said, "Let's do this."

She then instructed everyone to stand in a circle and hold hands. Phoebe in the meantime was collecting candles and placing them in a circle in front of them. Piper leant down and carefully lit each candle.

Together the three witches said the spell while everyone else stood, waiting anxiously for something to happen. Unfortunately, nothing did.

"I don't understand, that should have worked," Paige said, frustrated.

"Should we try again?" Chris asked.

"No, if it was going to work, it would have worked the first time." Phoebe explained.

"Well how else can we contact a ghost?" Chris asked.

The three sisters looked at each other and it was as if a light bulb went off in their heads at the same time, "The spirit board!" They all said together.

"Are you suggesting a séance?" Asked Jeni, who had remained silent up until now.

"That's a good idea." Leo agreed.

"I'm not even really sure where the spirit board is, we haven't used it in years." Piper said.

"Wyatt and I used it a lot when we were younger," Chris said, "It should be on the top shelf of that cupboard over there." He said pointing.

"You did?" Piper asked, surprised. "Why didn't I know about that?"

"Mum, really, don't go there. I think there's a lot of stuff we used to get up to you don't want to know about." Chris said, suddenly feeling six years old again.

"Mmmm, we'll talk about it later." She said not willing to drop it that easily.

In the meantime Leo had retrieved the spirit board from the exact place Chris had said it would be.

"Where do you want to do this? Up here? Or down in the Sitting Room?" He asked, but before he could answer all their attention was drawn to someone orbing into the attic.

"Having a family reunion without me?" Wyatt asked sarcastically.

Nobody had seen him for several months, and were surprised at how he looked, dressed in black trousers, black T-shirt, his blonde curly hair now down to his shoulders.

"Wyatt," Piper started to say, but was cut off by Leo.

"What do you want?" He asked coldly.

"Nice to see you too, Dad. Don't worry, I won't keep you long, I just came by to congratulate my little brother for surviving Gideon's curse. Well done, everyone, reversing his magic was quite an achievement. Unfortunately, it has resulted in a drastic change of plans on my part."

From his void, he knew how close he'd come this time. The spirit board would have helped, because he would have been able to send them a short message that would have made a lot more sense than the dreams. Through dreams he could only send images, on the spirit board he could send words. He consoled himself that they had made a lot more progress in this timeline and that many changes had taken place compared to the previous loops. After saving Chris, the dinner they had many times before had not even happened this time. In fact they had spent the entire time in the attic trying to work out his messages until Wyatt appeared. He knew, though, that now Wyatt had appeared, the rest of this timeline would play out as it always had. They would all follow Wyatt to Magic School where Piper would be critically wounded when Excalibur would be accidentally destroyed. He knew that Wyatt, in his desperation to have Excalibur, would open a time portal to the past and Chris, equally as desperate to stop Wyatt, would end up going through that portal with him. This time, however, Chris would have all the knowledge of their discussions about the dreams, and when he arrived in the past he hoped he would tell the Piper and Leo from that time about the spirit board.

He made a decision to use all his concentration to send one last dream to only one person this time. This would be his last hope before the timeloop started all over again. This was his last chance, and it had to be perfect.


	23. Future Consequences: Fragments Chapter ...

Chris ran in slow motion across the room. The more he ran, the further away Baby Wyatt moved from him. He had to reach him before Gideon did; he promised Leo he would protect him. As he was desperately trying to reach the helpless baby version of his older brother, he watched him change from a baby into Big Wyatt, and then turn to Chris and begin laughing at him. Suddenly Piper and Leo were standing next to Chris, telling him about their dreams and asking him to help them use the spirit board to contact the ghost they thought was sending the dreams. Chris protested, telling them he had to save Wyatt from Gideon. When he looked back at Big Wyatt he had stopped laughing and was now holding a baby. To Chris' horror he could see it was him as a baby and Wyatt was threatening to kill him. Chris turned to his Mum and Dad for help, but they just kept telling him to come with them. Chris had never felt so frustrated, and could not understand why his parents would be acting this way. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his stomach and looked down to find blood seeping from a deep wound. He collapsed to his knees in agony looking desperately at his parents and then back at Wyatt for some kind of help, but no one seemed to care.

Chris jumped as he opened his eyes. Baby Wyatt was in front of him touching his stomach, but his jolt must have scared Wyatt, because he let out a startled cry and ran away. Chris, catching his breath from what he'd just experienced, sat up and looked around and realized he was lying on the couch in the living room of the Manor and everything he just thought was real was only a dream. Or was it? He stopped to think for a second, trying to clear his head and work out what was real and what was not. So much had happened in the last couple of days his head was positively spinning. The dream he just had was such a mix of different events and different times that sorting it all out was going to take patience. Having to cope with the two sets of memories he now had and separating each of them was also difficult. He looked around at where he was and suddenly realised he had no memory of going to sleep there. Trying not to panic he attempted to think back to his last memory and then hopefully work back from there. He remembered Wyatt threatening his Baby self after he and Wyatt had come from the future. He shook his head and mumbled to himself, "I can't believe I time travelled again!" Then he remembered the dreams his parents had in the future, and how they'd asked him if he was going to time travel because all the dreams had happened before he was due to travel in time. Of course he'd denied it because he certainly hadn't intended to, but as it turns out he did. "What the hell is going on?" He asked out loud as he put his hands to his head and went to lie down again.

"That's what I'd like to know." A familiar female voice said to him.

Chris sat up and saw his Mother walk into the room holding Wyatt.

"I'm sorry if Wyatt woke you." She said to Chris and then turned to Wyatt and said, "You see, Chris is fine."

"I think I startled him when I woke up, I'm sorry. I had the weirdest dream, there is just so much going on in my head at the moment." Chris explained.

"Don't worry, he seems all right now." Piper said as she walked over and put Wyatt in his playpen. "More to the point, how are you feeling?" She asked Chris.

"Fine, I think, I was just trying to work out where I was. Yesterday was a very long day!" He said to her.

"You can tell me all about it when your Dad gets here," Piper said. "You were pretty badly injured last night. Leo healed you, but you were so exhausted, you went straight to sleep again after you regained consciousness. You've been asleep for nearly twelve hours; I was beginning to get worried."

"Twelve hours? Wow, I can't remember the last time I slept twelve hours," Chris said, surprised.

"Well, you must have needed it. I'll call Leo and you can tell us what is going on." Piper said as she looked to the ceiling and then shouted, "Leo!"

A heartbeat later Leo orbed into the room.

He smiled at Chris, "You're awake," he said.

"Finally," Chris replied.

Piper sat down on one of the chairs in the living room and said, "okay, Baby Chris is asleep, Wyatt is in his playpen, now tell us what is going on, but first, I have to know, are you the same Chris who was living with us the last couple of years?"

"Piper.." Leo started to say, but was cut off by Chris.

"No it's okay, Dad, I don't mind, because I've got a few things to ask you as well, before we go into how and why I'm here." Chris paused and took a deep breath. "Am I the same Chris?" He repeated, "The short answer, yes and no. There is only one of me, but I have two sets of memories, one from the Chris who lived with you as your Whitelighter and the other from Baby Chris upstairs."

"How is that possible?" Piper asked.

"Really it's a long story, but I have to ask you both a few questions first. Have you guys been having any strange dreams lately?" Chris asked.

Both Piper and Leo looked at each other and then back at Chris shaking their heads, "No," they both said.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Leo added.

"Are you sure?" Chris checked again.

They both nodded. "Chris, what's that got to do with you and Wyatt coming back from the future. And what does Excalibur have to do with everything?" Leo asked him.

"Okay, maybe it would be easier if I just started at the beginning." Chris sighed.

"You have our full attention." Piper said.

"First of all, I am Baby Chris grown up. My life has been great, everything has been so much better." Chris started to explain.

"Except Wyatt is still evil?" Leo asked, basing his comment on seeing Wyatt the night before.

"He has problems, but he is no where near as bad as the first future. And we all know the reason this time, it's because of Excalibur."

"Why Excalibur?" Piper asked.

"Excalibur was really meant for me, not Wyatt. He was given it by mistake and its power corrupted him. Since Dad and the other Elders took it away from him, he has been completely obsessed with getting it back. That's all he thinks about. That's why we've come back in time. Excalibur was kept protected at Magic School, but Wyatt tried to steal it. In his attempt it was accidentally destroyed, but he was so desperate to still have it, he opened a time portal to come back in time for it. I tried to stop him, but unfortunately ended up going through the portal with him. I don't think he intended to come back to this time, because the spell he used was just for him, so when I went through with him we were thrown around like we were in a tornado and then thrown out here." Chris continued to explain.

"So that's how you ended up in the attic last night." Leo concluded.

"I can't believe Excalibur is meant for you, it hadn't even occurred to us." Piper said.

"I know, Wyatt the all powerful and twice blessed superwitch," Chris said sarcastically. "Don't worry, everyone just naturally thought it was meant for him. But when you pulled it out of the stone Mum, it was because it was meant for your son; I just hadn't been born yet. Maybe it was because I was here from the future that it appeared at that time, unfortunately as you know I was out looking for more demons after Wyatt, so missed everything that happened back then anyway. It was all over and Excalibur had been hidden in the attic by the time I got back."

"If you are Baby Chris grown up, how is it that you have the other Chris' memories as well?" Leo asked.

"When Gideon stabbed me, the athame had been cursed with powerful magic, Dad, that's why you couldn't heal me." Chris started to explain.

Leo nodded, not enjoying the memories this conversation was resurfacing.

"What you didn't know at the time, was the athame had also been cursed to kill in any timeline. Remember, Gideon was obsessed with Wyatt turning evil and wanted him gone for good. He didn't want to kill him, just to have you go back in time and save him again. He wanted the job done properly the first time. Well, unfortunately he stabbed me with it, and not only could you not save me at the time, but Baby Chris, who is me, is now destined to grow up and die at the same age."

"How did you find out about this?" A shocked Piper asked.

"Phoebe did. She started getting premonitions, and with the help of the Elders you came up with a counter spell to Gideon's magic."

"Well it must have worked, thank goodness, because you're here telling us all about it." Piper said relieved.

"Not exactly." Chris told them.

"What do you mean?" Leo asked.

"The counter spell by itself did not work. What you had to do was bring the me who had died in the past to merge with the me who was dying in the future. It got very complicated, but suffice to say that everything worked out in the end, and I woke up with two sets of memories. Apparently that is what would have happened if I had returned to the future anyway."

"Wow, this is amazing. I hadn't really thought about what would have happened when you returned to the future, because of course if the future had been changed there would have been no need for grown up Baby Chris to come back to the past." Leo said and then continued, "Did that make sense?" He asked.

"Don't worry about it, if you think about it too much you get dizzy!" Piper said. "The main thing is Chris is back and we need to help him."

"There's more I have to tell you first." Chris said to them.

"The dreams?" Leo asked.

"Exactly! Do you remember just before we went through the portal to the evil world you both had strange dreams?" Chris queried.

Piper and Leo thought back to the few months before and both nodded their heads.

"Yes, why are those dreams relevant to what's happening with Wyatt?" Leo asked.

"Not with Wyatt, no." Chris answered, then paused for a second trying to think of how to explain about the dreams now. "Okay," he continued, "Remember I told you that the Leo in my original future had the dreams just before I travelled back in time to you guys?"

"Yes," Leo answered. Piper nodded.

"And then you both had similar dreams the night before you and I, Dad, were due to travel in time to the future. Well, those dreams were showing you images of each of your greatest threats, and of course Gideon. At the time because you trusted Gideon implicitly you guessed that you were being warned about an evil that was after Gideon, and not that the evil was Gideon."

"Yes, we've talked about that since everything happened. The benefit of hindsight makes such a difference sometimes." Leo said.

"Well, if we'd known that Gideon was evil and used the potion as we had intended, then we would have gone to the future that day. And it would have been the future I've just come from."

Before Chris could continue, Piper cut in suddenly connecting the dots, "Leo would have found out about Excalibur."

"And when I came back, I would have been able to prevent it from happening." Leo concluded.

"Yes, and the whole future would have changed. Again!" Chris said, "Wyatt would have truly been saved this time."

"That is very interesting," Leo commented, "but what does it have to do with us having dreams now?"

"The Piper and Leo in my future also had the dreams." Chris told them.

"Again? What's going on? Who's sending these things and why?" Piper asked frustrated.

"I wish I knew, Mum, but I may have a way to find out." Chris answered her.

"What were the dreams about this time?" Leo asked.

"They said they were similar to what you described. Dark shapes of people moving in circles, and Wyatt and Excalibur were in them as well."

"So, it happened just before you time travelled again, and it warned about what was going to happen with Wyatt and Excalibur." Leo stated.

"It appears that way, yes." Chris agreed.

"So how do we find out who's sending these dreams?" Piper asked.

"You guys in the future, along with Phoebe, said your best guess would be some kind of ghost." Chris said.

"A ghost?" Piper repeated.

"That does make sense, ghosts definitely communicate through dreams." Leo said.

"Trouble is, we tried to summon it, but it didn't work, so we were just about to try the Spirit Board when everything happened with Wyatt and I ended up here." Chris said as he sat back and took a deep breath. "And that's it, now you're completely up to date!" He said relieved.

"Well we should try the spirit board as well." Piper suggested.

"But we haven't had any dreams yet." Leo said.

"Oh, that's right. Does that matter?" Piper asked.

"I really don't know. Most of this has been guess work." Chris answered.

Before Piper and Leo could question Chris further, suddenly the room was filled with the sound of a baby crying. Piper picked up the baby monitor, "Baby Chris must be hungry," and then she realized, "and you must be hungry too, Chris. I am so sorry, we were so involved in finding out why you were here, I completely forgot to offer you some food. You must be starving."

"I hadn't realized either, but now that you mention it, I am pretty hungry." Chris replied honestly.

"Leo, I'll take care of the baby, you take care of the adult," she instructed as she got up to leave the room.

After she left, Leo and Chris also got up to head to the kitchen. As they were walking together, Leo stopped and turned to Chris, seemingly wanting to ask him something, but not really knowing how to begin.

"What is it Dad?" Chris asked.

"I was wondering about your memories of the day that Gideon attacked you?" Leo asked him hesitantly.

"I remember everything, why?" Chris answered him.

"Because that day has haunted me for months now," Leo confessed.

"That was a bad day, with the evil world and then happy world," Chris started to agree, but was interrupted.

"No Chris, I'm not talking about any of that," Leo said, but then corrected himself, "Of course, that was all bad enough, but I'm talking about a promise I made to you. I promised I would save you and send you back to your own time. I left you on that bed to bleed to death, and you trusted my promise that I would save you. I'll never forget the look on your face as I orbed out. You were in incredible pain and yet you were still only concerned about your brother. I have relived that day, over and over again, trying to think of what I could have done to save you. I never should have left you alone with Wyatt in the first place. I knew Gideon was after him, I knew you could not possibly defeat him, he was a powerful Elder."

Chris had let his father talk, because it was obviously something he needed to get out of his system, but decided to cut in, "Dad, that was a crazy day, even with the dreams to warn us, there was no way you could have predicted what was going to happen, and I certainly don't blame you for anything. The whole reason I came back from the future was to save Wyatt. I was always willing to give up my life if it saved the future, because so much more was at stake than just my life."

"I know that now, Chris, I don't think any of us really understood back then. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry I put you in that position and I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise to save you." Leo said earnestly.

"Dad, there's no need," Chris started to say, but was interrupted by Leo.

"Just say okay, Chris, please."

Chris looked at the pain on his Dad's face, "Okay," he said softly.

The relief was immediately evident as Leo sighed, "Thank you. Now we'd better get you some food before your Mum gets back."

"I'd really like one of your famous chicken, lettuce and mayo sandwiches." Chris requested.

"I have a famous sandwich?" Leo asked him surprised.

"Yep! Mum finally let you in the kitchen." Chris told him.

"Well, I'd better get to making it then." Leo said as the two of them walked into the kitchen.


	24. Future Consequences: Fragments Chapter ...

After having one of his Dad's famous sandwiches, Chris went with his parents to the attic to look for Excalibur, just as he had done in the many loops before. This time, however, they were also looking for the Spirit Board, which had not been used in a long time. After finding Excalibur on top of a cupboard covered in dust, and then locating the Spirit Board on the top shelf inside the same cupboard, the decision was made to wait until Phoebe and Paige came home that night before trying to use it to make contact with the ghost. Chris then orbed to P3 to get some of his old clothes, so that he could have a shower and clean up. Of course, this is where he accidentally saved Jeni's parents, which would prevent him from ever meeting her. A distraught Chris then returned to the Manor almost ready to give up on everything. After having a long shower and thinking everything through, he joined the rest of his family who were patiently waiting for an explanation as to his behaviour at P3. Paige promised him that she would contact Jeni's parents in London and let them know what had happened, and that she would make sure that Chris would still get to meet her, and that part of his future would not be changed. After overcoming that crisis, they all decided it was best to wait until morning to use the Spirit Board, as it had gotten very late. A very relieved Chris decided to sleep on the couch in the Living Room again, and the rest of the family adjourned to their bedrooms.

"No! No! What do you want? I can't reach you!" Leo yelled out in his sleep.

Piper jumped up with the sudden noise and then turned to Leo lying next to her, shaking him in an effort to wake him from his nightmare.

"Leo! Leo, wake up. You're dreaming!" She urged him.

It took a few minutes but eventually Leo opened his eyes and sat up, breathless and still shaken from his vivid dream.

"Are you okay?' Piper asked concerned.

Leo didn't answer her straight away, as he was still trying to regain his composure and get his breathing back to normal.

"Wow!" He finally said.

"What happened?" Piper asked him.

"Did you dream it too?" Leo asked her.

"No. I didn't have any dreams that I can remember." Piper answered him, and then realised, "You've had one of the dreams Chris was talking about, haven't you."

Leo nodded, "Yes, but this was so much more powerful than the ones we had a few months ago."  
"What was this one about?" Piper asked.

"It was very mixed up," Leo said trying to make sense of what he had just dreamt. "Dark figures and circles again."

"Every dream has had that, I hope we find out what the hell that means." Piper said to him.

Leo put his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes, and then kept them closed trying to visualize again what his dream had just shown him.

"You were calling out to someone and asking them what they wanted." Piper said trying to help him remember, "And you said something about not being able to reach them."

Leo opened his eyes, "I remember." He said looking at her. "And I think I know who is sending us the dreams. I saw him very clearly and he's a ghost."

"Who?" Piper asked.

"Do you remember Clyde?" Leo asked her.

"Clyde who?" Piper asked, the penny not yet dropping.

"He was the ghost from the past, a malevolent spirit who helped me take Paige back to visit her past and overcome her issues with her parents?"

"Oh, that Clyde, yes of course I remember him." Piper said nodding her head.

"Well, I saw him very clearly in my dream." Leo said.

"Well that doesn't mean he sent the dreams, Leo, we've both seen a lot people in our dreams, but they didn't send them." Piper queried him.

"Yes, but no one else has been a ghost." He reasoned. "And everyone else has been relevant to what was going on at the time. I wasn't even thinking about Clyde."

"No, but we were thinking about ghosts, so maybe your subconscious made you dream about him." Piper suggested.

Leo considered what Piper had just said. "Maybe you're right. I don't know anymore, but there's one way we can find out, we'll summon him." Leo said.

Leo looked at the clock and saw it was almost 7.00am.

"We'll wake everyone up, and after breakfast we'll summon him and try to get some answers." Leo decided.

"Fine, I just hope we do finally get some answers because this is really starting to annoy me." Piper said as she got out of bed.

Later that morning Paige, Phoebe, Piper and Chris were all waiting in the Living Room when Leo orbed in.

"The kids are safe at Magic School, okay, let's do this." He said impatiently.

"Who is this Clyde again?" Chris asked.

"He's a ghost from the past," Paige explained, "He helped Leo and I travel to the past to deal with some issues I had with my parents."

"Like in that Christmas story?" Chris asked.

"Yes, I believe that was him." Leo stated.

"So, where's the summoning spell?" Chris asked.

"You don't summon him the normal way," Piper told him.

"Clyde ignores them." Leo said, "There's only one way to get Clyde down here." Then Leo shouted angrily, "Clyde! Get your butt down here you fetid worm from the bog of eternal stench!"

"What are you doing?" Chris asked, very surprised.

"You've got to make him mad." Phoebe answered Chris.

"Well, that'll do it." Chris mumbled to himself as Leo continued.

"Your mother was a chunky substance from a gin cesspool. And she smelled bad too!"

They all waited. Nothing happened.

"That should have worked." Leo said.

"It worked last time," Piper advised.

"In my dream, I was trying to reach him, but couldn't. Maybe that's why he's attempting to make contact. He might be trapped somewhere and needs our help?" Leo surmised.

"We should use the spirit board." Chris suggested.

"I'll get it from the attic." Leo said just before he disappeared in a cloud of orbs.

Everyone else walked into the Dining Room where Leo met them with spirit board in hand. He placed it on the table as each person sat down around it.

"Everyone put a finger on the pointer," Phoebe requested, "And close your eyes and concentrate. Leo you can ask the questions."

They all did as they were told as Leo asked. "Who is sending us these dreams?"

Everyone opened their eyes, as immediately the pointer started moving towards the letters on the board. They all watched as it spelled out C-L-Y-D-E.

"Clyde. You were right Leo." Piper said to him.

Leo nodded to Piper and then asked his next question. "Why have you been trying to contact us?"

They all watched once again as the pointer spelled out T-I-M-E-

A-R-A-D-O-X.

"Time paradox?" Phoebe questioned when she worked out what the letters had spelled out.

"What's a time paradox?" Paige asked.

"I've studied a lot about time." Chris answered her. "Considering all the travelling."

"Do you know what it means?" Piper asked him.

"Isn't it when time continually repeats itself or something like that?" Leo asked Chris.

"Sort of, the example given in books is say you go back in time and kill your grandmother, then of course, you could not be born, which in turn would bring it about that you could not have travelled to the past, thus you could not have killed your grandmother, which means now you would be born, so you can go to the past and kill your grandmother. And so it goes on and on and on. A paradox."

"But none of us killed our grandmother?" Phoebe queried.

"No that was just an example Phoebe, what it means is changing an event in the past can cause a paradox," Chris said trying not to laugh at her question. Then it occurred to him.

"Do you think I've caused a paradox somehow?" Chris asked, concerned.

"Let's find out." Leo said and then asked, "Did Chris cause a paradox?"

The answer was immediate. Y-E-S.

Everyone sat there stunned for a second, until Chris broke the silence, "My God, I had no idea."

"I don't feel like we're living the same day over and over again." Phoebe said.

"It doesn't have to be a day, Phoebe, this isn't Groundhog Day, it can be years that we're living over and over again." Leo said to her.

"Let's think about this for a minute." Chris said pausing before he continued. "The first Chris goes back in time to 2003 from 2026 and then time continues on until 2027 when I go back in time again, this time to 2005. What if something happens now to make sure we never go past 2027. Something happens to make me go back in time again. The dreams have come in all those years I've just mentioned."

"Yes, but there could have been other years and other dreams that you just don't know about." Leo said to Chris. "We can't guess at this, we'll ask." Leo then asked, "How do we stop the time paradox?"

The pointer started moving again to spell out, D-O-N-O-T

"Do not -" Phoebe said, but was interrupted as they all jumped when someone orbed in behind them. Startled by the sudden intrusion, they all took their fingers off the pointer, in turn breaking the connection.

"Leo, we've being trying to contact you." Odin, an Elder, said urgently.

"I'm sorry, Odin, I've been deep in concentration here, I mustn't have heard you."

"There are many demon attacks happening around the city, we need the sisters to go out immediately to stop them." He implored.

"Wyatt!" Chris exclaimed.

"I can't go," Piper protested. "I've got to stay here with Chris. What if Wyatt comes after him."

"I'll stay," Leo told her. "You go with your sisters, and if you need my help just call."

Phoebe who had gone into the kitchen to grab some potions returned and said, "Okay, I've got a heap of potions, we'd better go."

With that Paige and Piper moved next to her.

Piper gave a trusting look to Leo, before she orbed out with her sisters.

Odin orbed out at the same time.

Chris looked back at the spirit board and noticed the pointer was vibrating.

"Dad, what does that mean?" Chris asked him.

They watched as it then started moving all by itself. Adding more to the sentence it had just started.

Y-O-U-R

"Your?" Leo questioned.

"Do not save your," Chris said.

"What the hell?" Leo asked. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means to stop the paradox something will happen to cause you to have to save someone, and Clyde is telling you not to." Chris concluded.

"I can't do that." Leo said firmly.

"You may have to, Dad. If it's the only way." Chris said to him, and then continued, "Look, believe me, I don't like the sound of this any more than you do, but I also do not want to be responsible for a never ending time paradox."

"Put your finger back on the pointer." He ordered Chris.

"Why what are you going to ask?" Chris queried as he did as he was told.

Leo answered him by asking the question, "Do not save my what?"

The pointer did not move.

"He must be all out of energy, or with just you and me there is not enough power to channel him." Chris worked out.

"Chris, I can't watch someone die because a spirit we think is Clyde is telling me to. I won't do that." He said firmly.

Before Chris could answer he could see Leo was being called.

"What is it?" He asked his Dad.

"It's Piper, she needs me." Leo said looking at Chris.

"Well, go, quickly, she might be hurt." Chris said to him.

"I'll be right back." Leo said as he orbed out.

Chris was only alone for a few seconds before he heard someone orb in behind him. He turned, knowing exactly who it would be. Wyatt stood in front of him, confidently holding a sword of his own.

"Hello, Wyatt," Chris said to him, then his eyes moved down to the sword Wyatt was holding.

"You noticed I've come prepared. I must say I am surprised that you are not." Wyatt said noticing that Chris did not have Excalibur.

Everyone had been so busy trying to work out the mystery of the dreams, that he had not had time to even think about Excalibur. He should have been training, preparing for this showdown he knew would be coming. Unfortunately that had not happened. Even though he did not stand much of a chance against Wyatt with Excalibur, Chris knew he stood no chance at all against Wyatt without the power from the magical sword, and so without saying a word he orbed to the attic in hope of getting to Excalibur before Wyatt could get to him.


	25. Future Consequences: Fragments Chapter ...

Chris materialised in the attic right next to where he knew Excalibur had been placed the day before. Quickly he reached for the Magical Sword and pulled it out of the stone as quickly as he could because he could hear Wyatt orbing in behind him. He was so focused on reaching the sword before Wyatt, that it did not even occur to him that it was the first time he had ever actually freed the sword from its home of stone, confirming once and for all that he was its true master. He turned just in time to block Wyatt as he tried to strike him down. Chris could feel the power flow through him, but never having any training with the sword made that extra power boost useless. All he could do was try to block Wyatt's relentless attacks. He thought about orbing out, but knew that Wyatt would only follow him so decided to stay in the confines of the attic, where his parents would know to find him. Chris fought as bravely and as well as he knew how, but unfortunately the battle was a short one. Wyatt had years of training with Excalibur before it was taken away from him, and that training meant Chris was no match for his older brother, even with Excalibur. After being slashed badly in the thigh and the shoulder, Chris finally found himself cornered. Wyatt looked at his brother weakened and in pain and easily knocked Excalibur from his hands. Chris once again considered orbing away, but knew he was probably too weak to travel very far. And Wyatt, who did not have a scratch on him, would probably stop him by grabbing his orbs, as Leo had done years before when he had tried to orb away from him when he returned from Valhalla. He really could see no way out, and so decided to call for his Father.

"Dad," he called as strongly as he could.

By the time Leo, Piper, Paige and Phoebe all orbed in to the attic Wyatt had retrieved Excalibur and was holding Chris against the wall with his left hand around his throat. His right hand was holding Excalibur pointed to Chris' stomach.

"Oh my God, Wyatt no, please!" Piper begged as she started to move closer to her sons.

"Stay back, Mum, I only came for the sword. If you let me go, I won't hurt him." Wyatt told her.

Chris was clearly gasping for air.

"Let him down, Wyatt, you're choking him. Let's talk about this." Leo pleaded.

"The time for talking is long gone, Dad. I want your word that you will let me go, and I will release him." Wyatt shouted to them.

"Okay, okay. Just let him go. I promise we'll allow you to leave." Piper agreed.

"Piper!" Leo protested, but she interrupted him.

"Leo he's killing Chris!"

They all breathed a sigh of relief as Wyatt released his grip around Chris' throat and Chris at the same time gasped desperately for air.

"See, that was easy wasn't it." Wyatt said to them.

Their relief was short lived, however. Helplessly they all watched in horror as Wyatt suddenly and unexpectedly lunged the cold sharp blade of Excalibur into Chris' stomach and then started to orb out at the same time.

Without thinking, her reflexes taking over, Piper motioned her destructive powers toward him and Wyatt rematerialised before being flung back into the wall behind him by a small explosion near his stomach, falling motionless to the floor.

Chris, still conscious and no longer being held up by Wyatt, started sliding down the wall he was leaning on, leaving a trail of blood behind.

"Chris!" Piper called as she ran to him.

She dropped down by her younger son's side and told him confidently, "Don't worry, honey, your Dad's going to save you. You'll be fine."

Paige was next to Piper and Phoebe had gone to check on Wyatt.

"Wyatt's unconscious, but alive." Phoebe shouted to them.

"Thank God." Piper said relieved. "Leo, quickly," she said looking up expecting to see Leo behind her, but he wasn't there. Desperately she looked around the room for her husband, but could not see him anywhere.

"Where's Leo?" She asked to Phoebe and Paige.

They were as surprised as Piper to see he wasn't with them.

"Leo! Leo!" Piper screamed desperately. "Where the hell are you!"

"This can't be happening," she mumbled to herself.

Chris coughed next to her. "Hold on Chris, please, just hold on." She begged him, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Leo materialised in a very dark place. He looked around and saw nothing but darkness. "Where am I?" He shouted. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"

"We need to talk," came the reply from a familiar voice behind him.

Leo turned around and could not believe who was walking toward him.

"I thought I'd seen the last of you," Leo said bitterly to Alpha, the Avatar who had now stopped in front of him.

"So had we," he replied.

"Why have you brought me here? My sons are injured, return me to the Manor immediately." Leo demanded.

"Yes, but first we need to talk." Alpha calmly said to him.

"I have nothing to say to you!" Leo replied angrily.

"We did not intend to make contact with you again, but circumstances have changed."

Alpha started to explain, but was interrupted by Leo.

"What do you mean?"

"We will explain everything in good time. For now, we need your word that you will not attack us. We do not wish to fight you, nor hurt you. We just want you to agree to hear our proposal." Alpha told him.

Leo was looking around desperately trying to figure a way out, so he didn't have to listen to them again, be fooled by them again.

"Time is against you Leo, at this moment both your sons are near death. You need to make a decision." Alpha advised him.

"If I don't agree?" Leo asked.

"Then, unfortunately you will not make it back in time to save them." Alpha replied coldly.

"Save them." Leo repeated to himself, the words echoing in his head. Suddenly, reality hit Leo as hard as if he'd been hit by a truck and memories of the spirit board came rushing back to him with the cryptic message "do not save your". Without any more information he could only guess that this was the moment he was not supposed to agree to the Avatars proposal and therefore risk losing his sons in the process. With time not being on his side, Leo decided to call Alpha's bluff just to see his reaction. "I will not make any deals with you again!" He said as firmly as he could.

The look on Alpha's face was one of complete surprise.

"But your sons Leo?"

"I've told you my decision. I'm sick of you manipulating situations to your own advantage."

Alpha looked away for a few seconds as if he was sensing a message from the other Avatars. Then he looked back at Leo. "This is," he paused as if thinking of the right word, and then continued, "unexpected." He said.

Leo didn't move. He remained completely still and silent as he looked at Alpha, who for the first time seemed flustered.

"Fine, we'll do this your way." He said.

Suddenly Leo reappeared in the attic and immediately saw Piper, next to a very badly injured Chris who was leaning up against the wall, Paige was comforting her. Wyatt was sprawled out on the floor unconscious, not far from them with Phoebe next to him.

"Oh, no!" Leo exclaimed as he ran to Piper.

"Leo! Oh thank God!" Piper said through her tears as she saw Leo running toward her.

"Quickly, Leo, heal them." She pleaded with him.

Leo moved over to Chris and went to place his healing hands on the deep wound to his stomach.

Chris, however, pushed them away. "No, Dad. You can't. Remember the message." He said through laboured breaths.

"What's he talking about? What message?" Piper asked.

"Chris, we have no proof that the message was meant to be about you and Wyatt." Leo said. "Just let me heal you –"

Before Leo could finish Chris interrupted, "Dad, who else could it be about?"

"Leo, can't you see he's delirious. Why are you hesitating? He's dying, Leo, both our sons are dying!" Piper said desperately, but trying to stay calm.

"The message from the spirit board said, do not save your," Leo tried to explain.

"You're not seriously telling me that the reason you're not healing Chris and Wyatt is because of that message." Piper uttered incredulously.

"Mum," Chris called weakly.

Piper turned to look at the adult version of her younger son, lying gravely wounded and struggling to breathe.

"Chris, please let your Dad heal you, we'll sort all this out later."

"Dad saving us is what causes the paradox, I'm sure of it." He said trying to sound convincing.

"Chris, how can you be sure? It was a message from a spirit board, it could mean anything." She said as calmly as she could, trying to reason with him.

Chris looked up at his Mother with his piercing green eyes, and said to her confidently, "I've been through this before, and it's not that bad. Don't blame Dad; he's doing the right thing. The only thing." Chris then noticed the man standing behind them all. "Who is he?" He asked.

Nobody had noticed Alpha whohad been standing there all this time.

Piper stood up and faced the Avatar. "Was it you that took Leo away from us? What do you want this time?" She asked angrily.

Alpha ignored Piper and asked Leo, "Why aren't you saving your sons, Leo? They will die soon."

Leo, now starting to get more suspicious of Alpha's motives queried, "Why do you want me to save them? What is it to you?"

"You're wasting time Leo." Alpha said starting to lose his patience.

"Why don't you just heal them yourself?" Leo questioned him,

"We are too weak, Leo. We only have enough power left for one last act."

"Tell me Alpha. Tell me what this is all about." Leo demanded.

"We have a proposal to put to one of your sons, but he has to be alive to hear it."

"Which one?" Leo asked him.

"I've told you enough, Leo, you must make your decision."

"Leo just heal them, please!" Piper begged him desperately, as Chris' breathing started to become very laboured.

Leo looked at Alpha and then looked at his sons.

"I don't understand, why won't you heal them?" Piper asked him, tears streaming down her face.

Leo then made the toughest decision of his life. He knelt down next to Chris, but instead of healing him he gently held his hand. The scene was all too familiar as Chris looked up at his Father who had tears streaming down his cheeks. Chris nodded to him acknowledging that he knew he was making the right decision as Leo gently kissed his forehead and whispered, "I'm sorry, Chris." With the decision made, Chris had no reason to hold on any longer and so finally let go, allowing his body to go limp under Leo's arms.

"No! No! No!" Piper screamed as she leaned her head into Chris' hand she was holding.

She looked over to Phoebe who was next to Wyatt. Phoebe shook her head as she too sobbed, indicating that Wyatt had also died. Paige witnessed everything quietly crying also.

Alpha looked at the scene before him and quietly said, "I suppose it just wasn't meant to be," before he faded away.

Piper, who was now completely inconsolable, stood up and started hitting Leo.

"I will never forgive you for this! Never!" She shouted at him.

With tears rolling down his own cheeks, Leo allowed her to lash out at him. The sting of her words hurt Leo more than anything else had ever hurt him in his life. He could only hope that his decision had been the right one.


	26. Final Chapter Future Consequences: Frag...

"Do you realize what you just let happen?" Piper said to Leo, hysterically.

"Piper you need to calm down." Leo tried to reason with her.

"I just killed my own son!" She shouted, still hysterical. And then repeated more quietly as reality set in, "My God, I just killed my own son. How am I going to live with that?" Then she turned to Leo and asked, "How am I going to able to bring up Wyatt, knowing that one day I'll end up killing him?"

Before Leo could answer his distraught wife, Phoebe called out from the other side of the room. "They've disappeared." She said.

Both Leo and Piper turned to see what she was talking about and saw that the bodies of Chris and Wyatt had indeed disappeared.

"Where did they go?" Piper asked running over to where they had just been.

"Do you think the Avatars stole them?" Paige asked.

"No, I don't think the Avatars had anything to do with this." Leo said, as he looked at all three sisters looking back at him waiting for his explanation.

"I'm hoping," he said, "that the fact that they've disappeared means that the future has changed, and that we've stopped the paradox."

"If there ever was one." Piper mumbled.

"There's only one way to find out, I'll try to summon Clyde again and we'll see what happens." Leo suggested.

"Clyde! Get your butt down here you fetid worm from the bog of eternal stench! Your Mother was a chunky substance from a gin cesspool. And she smelled bad too!"

Suddenly a gust of wind appeared above them, flying around the room. Slowly it settled next to Leo, finally turning into Clyde.

"Well it's about time, Leo! I've been on so many loops I was starting to get dizzy!" Clyde exclaimed.

Piper opened her mouth to speak, but Leo got in first, "Clyde, please tell me I did the right thing." He almost begged.

Clyde could sense his anguish, "Yes, Leo, you did the right thing. What you did not only saved me from being trapped, but you saved the world from an eternal paradox."

"But my boys?" Piper asked him, "Are they always destined to die now?"

"No, Piper that's not how it works. Trust me when I say that they are both fine, in the sense that their futures will now be." Clyde explained.

"I don't understand." Piper said exasperated.

"Please, Clyde, can you tell us what happened. From the beginning." Leo requested.

"Of course, happy to. You saved me after all." He said gratefully as he looked around at all of them.

"It's quite simple really. Your sons caused a paradox when they came back in time together. When that paradox was formed I must have been travelling in between time periods because I was thrown into some kind of void, where I've been trapped. The only way I could communicate was through dreams, and even that took a long time to master."

"How did they cause the paradox?" Phoebe asked him.

"I'm not quite sure of the exact moment, but as far as I can tell, the original timeline had Wyatt growing with Excalibur. It corrupted him and was accidentally destroyed in the future, so he tried to travel back in time to retrieve it. He only planned to go back to the time when he was a teenager and was still training with it, but when Chris accidentally went through the portal with him, the spell couldn't cope and the vortex spewed them out in this time."

"What did the Avatars have to do with everything?" Leo asked him.

"The Avatars did not get a chance to tell you this time, but they are dying. The power they used to change the world and then rewind time was too much for them and as a result, their collective is now dying. There was nothing they could do about this until Adult Wyatt showed up and they could sense how powerful he was. The Avatars, in their sneaky way, hoped to get permission from adult Wyatt to give him their powers, and then transfer them to Baby Wyatt. That's why they were so keen on you healing them, Leo."

"So if I had saved Wyatt's life he would have been given all the powers of the Avatars." Leo clarified.

"Yes, and that did happen many times before, and you helped him develop those powers as he grew. Because you had been an Avatar, you would have been drawn to him, to guide him, and the Avatars knew this."

"So consequently I would have neglected Chris, which is the other future Chris came from." Leo said realising where this was all leading.

"That's right. When Chris and Wyatt coming back in time together, that actually caused Chris's other future where Wyatt was obsessed with power. The future that Chris came back to save when he sent you to Valhalla."

"So Wyatt would have grown up evil and Chris would have come back in time to save him again." Leo said.

"Exactly! That Chris would have died because of Gideon, and then Baby Chris would grow up with Baby Wyatt who would be given Excalibur by mistake and then we start all over again."

"Are you following any of this?" Leo asked the girls.

"I think so." Piper said, still thinking it all through.

"What about the dreams?" Phoebe asked.

"Good question." Piper complimented her.

"I sent the dreams at very particular times when I knew the paradox could be broken. If Chris could have been prevented from ever travelling back in time from Avatar Wyatt, then the paradox would have ended. That's why I sent them to the Leo who had neglected Chris in the future."

"But we would have been stuck with an evil world." Leo said.

"I never said my plan was perfect, but I didn't have many opportunities." Clyde justified.

"What about the next time?" Paige asked.

"If you'd known Gideon was evil you wouldn't have used his spell for the portal, you would have used your own potion. You would have gone to the future, discovered why Wyatt was evil and then returned to the past and fixed it. And the paradox would have also been broken."

Before he was asked Clyde continued, "And the third time I was trying to prevent Chris and Wyatt from coming back in time to get Excalibur because that's what caused all of this in the first place. And lastly now by allowing your sons to die, Wyatt will not grow up an Avatar and their future will be changed. Given you also know about Excalibur, I'd say that the future is looking pretty good."

"Okay, I understand about Wyatt, but why did Chris have to die?" Piper asked him.

"Well he didn't really, it was only Wyatt who the Avatars were after." Clyde said.

"Are you telling me I just watched my son die an agonizing death for nothing?" Piper asked angrily.

"Piper, please believe me, everything has turned out all right. There was no way I could let you know not to let Chris die, and anyway, I'm not completely sure the Avatars wouldn't have been after him if Wyatt had died anyway. He's more powerful than he realizes."

Piper just shook her head, then she had a thought, "Why the images of people moving in circles?"

"How else do you visualize people living in a continual loop? Please understand it was very difficult for me to send any messages. I could only send you fragments of information. The fact that I got through to you at all was a miracle. You've got to remember, I didn't cause this, and I am very much the victim here." He said looking for sympathy, but not getting any. "And you witches need to learn to leave time travel to the professionals!" He chastised.

"How long did the paradox go on for, anyway?" Phoebe asked.

Clyde looked at them and sighed, "Forty-two loops!"

"Forty-two!" They all exclaimed at the same time.

"You've been trapped for all that time?" Leo asked him.

"How many years is that?" Paige queried.

"Way too many! That's how I know so much about your lives. I watched it all over and over and over,"

"We get the point," Piper said, cutting him off.

"Why didn't anyone else sense the paradox? We deal with magical people every day, surely someone would have sensed it." Leo asked.

"Because you were all living it. If I had not been trapped in that void, I would have been living it as well. Even the Avatars who are supposed to exist outside of time and space didn't sense it. I was a lucky anomaly. Because I had been thrown outside of the paradox, I could see how to stop it."

Clyde looked at the girls and Leo. "Does everyone understand now, are there anymore questions you'd like to ask?"

Piper looked sadly over to the corner of the attic where she'd just witnessed her sons' death. She looked to the floor, still fighting tears as she remembered what they had just gone through. She looked up at Clyde and said quietly, "I understand what you're saying. I see now that they had to die, but that doesn't make it any easier. I still have the memories of watching Chris suffer." She put her hand up to her mouth, trying hard to stop herself from breaking down. After she composed herself she continued, "Can you tell me, with absolute certainty, that what happened today will lead to Baby Chris and Baby Wyatt having a better life?"

"I'm sorry, Piper, I'm not the ghost for the future, I am the ghost of the past, so I cannot tell you with absolute certainty, no. But I can tell you that now Wyatt will neither grow up an Avatar, nor with Excalibur, because you have prevented both those things. You know about Jeni, and I'm sure you will contact her parents in London to make sure that she and Chris meet in the future. You have so much foresight, that I'm sure everything will turn out just fine."

Piper smiled at Clyde, appreciating what he had just said. "Thank you, but it would just be nice to know for sure."

Clyde looked away as if he suddenly had a thought.

"What is it?" Leo asked noticing.

"I'm not sure. Why don't you go downstairs and relax for a few minutes. I just have to check something. I'll be back as soon as I can." He told them.

Before anyone could answer, he disappeared in a big gust of wind, which swirled around the room, and then it was gone.

"Well, I suppose we'll do what he said." Leo said as he turned to walk toward the stairs.

Phoebe and Paige went to follow him, but Piper called to Leo. They all turned to face her. "You guys go ahead, I just want to talk to Leo for a sec." She said to her sisters.

They did as they were told and made their way down the stairs, as Leo walked up to Piper and asked, "What is it?"

Piper looked up into his eyes. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry." She said gently to him.

"Piper, it's okay, I understand." Leo said, trying to stop her apology.

"I know you understand, Leo, but I still want to say this. I know the decision you made with Chris and Wyatt would have been the toughest decision of your life. I said some things to you, and I want you to know I didn't mean them. I know you did what you thought was right, and I know you don't make decisions lightly. I just wanted you to know that and I hope you'll forgive me." Piper said, as she tried to blink away tears.

Leo put his hand up to her cheek and gently wiped a tear that had just fallen there. "Piper, you don't need to apologise for your love of our boys. You were grief stricken after what happened, and rightly so." He put his arms around her and held her tightly as she lent her head to his chest, enjoying the moment.

"It's over now, and everything's going to be all right. Our boys will now grow up to a better future, I promise." He assured her. "Are you ready to go downstairs now?"

She nodded. A few seconds later they orbed into the Living Room to join Phoebe and Paige who were already sitting on the couch.

"You okay, Piper?" Phoebe asked her.

Before Piper could answer a gust of wind formed in the room, moving down next to Piper and Leo, materialising as Clyde.

"Wonderful, you're all here." He said smiling.

"I have a surprise for you," He said as he snapped his fingers and a door appeared in front of him.

He opened it and a few second later, Big Chris and Big Wyatt came through as if someone had just pushed them.

Piper gasped as she put her hand to her mouth.

"But you said you're not the ghost for the future?" Leo questioned him.

"You're right I'm not." Clyde answered him.

"Then how were you able to bring them from the future? They are from the future aren't they?" Leo queried.

"Yes, Dad we're from the future." Chris answered for Clyde.

"From 2026, I believe." Clyde checked, looking at Chris and Wyatt.

They both nodded.

"But how?" Piper asked.

"You see, that's why you should leave time travel to the professionals. We have ways of getting around the rules. I am still the ghost of the past, and I am here showing them their past. That's what I do. Another mistake you make is believing that time is linear." He said shaking his head.

"I don't care, I'm just glad they're here." Piper said as she walked over and gave her sons a hug and kiss each.

"I just want you to know, this one's on me, to show you how grateful I am for rescuing me. After that, though, it'll be business as usual." Clyde told them.

"I'll be back to get them soon." He said as he disappeared in a gust of wind.

After saying hello to everyone, Wyatt and Chris sat down on a couple of chairs in the Living Room. Piper, Leo, Paige and Phoebe all sat around asking as many questions as they could.

"Do you know why you're here?" Piper asked.

"You both told us in the future to expect a visit from Clyde sometime this year." Wyatt said. "I guess because this all happened to them, or you, twenty-one years ago."

"I think we've had enough time travel talk for one day," Piper said. "I want to know more about you two."

"We've got to be pretty careful what we say, because of - "

"Future Consequences," Piper, Leo, Paige and Phoebe all said together. And then burst out laughing.

Chris turned to Wyatt, "Must be an in-joke." He said.

"You have no idea," Phoebe said to them.

"I don't need specifics, just general information is fine. Like are you both happy?"

They nodded, "We're great." Chris said.

"Anyone in the family evil in the future?" Paige asked.

They both shook their heads, "No, why?" Wyatt asked.

"Just checking." Piper answered. "Can you tell us what you do in the future?" Piper asked.

"We're not supposed to, but I guess it'll be okay." Chris answered.

"I'm a doctor," Wyatt said.

"A doctor!" Leo exclaimed, proudly. "I was a doctor."

"I know Dad, that's one of the reasons I went into medicine. I've found my healing powers and my knowledge of medicine has been a great mix." Wyatt explained to him.

Piper listened proudly, "Wow, a doctor, that's great Wyatt." She said. "What about you Chris?"

"At the moment I'm a teacher at Magic School," Chris explained.

"But I'm trying to talk him into going into politics," Wyatt cut in. "He is so good with people and is always trying to save things. Like whales or old buildings. What was your latest quest?" Wyatt asked him.

"Saving the natural ocean reefs." Chris answered.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Anyway he's always trying to save something."

Piper, Leo, Phoebe and Paige shared a smile, all of them seeing the irony of Chris' quests, and how he hadn't changed at all. He was still the same Chris trying to save the world only the circumstances had changed.

Before they knew it Clyde had returned and the boys' time was up. After there were more hugs all 'round, and a lot more tears, Wyatt and Chris went back through the door to their happier future.

That night before going to bed, Piper stared for a long time at her precious boys. The day she had just experienced had been both horrific and wonderful at the same time. It was a day she would remember for the rest of her life. She lent down and gave each of her sons one last kiss before retiring for the best night's sleep she'd had in a long time.

THE END

Thank you very much for reading my story, I have really enjoyed writing it. I would appreciate a review or a comment about it, and look forward to reading it.

I very much appreciate the reviews and comments I have received so far, and thank you for taking the time to do them.


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